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RAPAPORT... Earthworks and Oxfam America reminded consumers six days before Valentine's Day of which retailers signed up with the No Dirty Gold campaign.
Eleven new jewelry retailers lent support to No Dirty Gold's Golden Rules criteria for socially and environmentally responsible mining practices, bringing the total number of jewelry retailers supporting the campaign to 19.
The list includes seven of the 10 top retailers in the United States, which represents about 22 percent of the country's total jewelry market the non-governmental organizations concluded. New for the 2007 calendar year: Fred Meyer and Littman Jewelers, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., QVC, Birks & Mayors, Commemorative Brands (parent company of Balfour, ArtCarved, and Keystone class rings brands,) Brilliant Earth, Leber Jeweler, TurningPoint, Boscov's, and Michaels Jewelers.
"It is important for us as retail jewelers to do all practically in our power to adhere to the principles of the No Dirty Gold campaign. It is the 'right thing to do' for our community, our customers, as well as the world environment," said Jonathan Bridge, co-CEO of Seattle-based Ben Bridge Jeweler.
Payal Sampat of Earthworks concludes that by signing onto the rules, "jewelry retailers have burnished their reputations as industry leaders. Customers in Paris and mining-affected communities in Peru alike will take note of their support for improved mining practices."
The organizations reported that to date some 55,000 consumers worldwide have signed a pledge calling on jewelers and mining companies to provide an alternative to "dirty" gold.
"The message from the jewelry industry is clear--there is an emerging consensus that dirty gold will not be tolerated," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America.
Meanwhile, Minnesota-based Target Corporation was added to the groups laggards list for falling behind industry leaders by not making the same formal commitments against gold mining. "Despite the campaign's repeated efforts to win the company's support No Dirty Gold activists across the country are calling Target stores to lobby the company on its gold sourcing policy," reported Earthworks and Oxfam America.
"Unfortunately, Target is still off the mark," said Offenheiser. "We urge Target to join industry leaders in formally committing to the human rights and environmental criteria outlined in the Golden Rules."
In 2006 Zale Corporation, the Signet Group, Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget, and Van Cleef & Arpels signed on to the campaign.
The jewelry sector's increased awareness of mining's impacts has spurred the creation of a multi-stakeholder group of retailers, mining companies, and NGOs called the Initiative for Responsible Mining (IRMA.)
IRMA will seek to establish best practice standards for mining operations, as well as a system to independently verify compliance with those standards.
The production of a single gold ring generates, on average, 20 tons of waste. Gold mining has caused massive environmental destruction, contaminated fisheries and fresh water, and displaced tens of thousands of communities around the world. Approximately half the gold produced worldwide between 1995 and 2015 has or will come from indigenous peoples' lands the organizations contended.
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