All stock must go so for 30% off engagement and wedding rings, head to 149 Sloane Street, London (the website is no longer online).

Find out more about Leblas

Katie

One of the main flaws in the process is that it will only define as conflict diamonds

…rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments.

This means that diamonds crafted and polished in war-torn regions do not count.

One of the countries that benefits the most from this loophole is Israel.  The Boycott Israeli Diamonds campaign got in touch to ask us to share the issues with our readers. Researcher for the campaign, Seán Clinton says:

Every year, consumers the world over unwittingly spend billions of dollars on diamonds crafted in Israel, thereby helping to fund one of the world’s most protracted and contentious conflicts. Most people are unaware that Israel is one of the world’s leading producers of cut and polished diamonds.

There is currently no way of knowing whether the diamond in the engagement ring you’re admiring in your local jeweller’s window was cut and polished in Israel.

This is why the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is calling for the introduction of a hallmark system for all diamonds which will inform consumers where they were manufactured, giving them the right to choose Israel-free diamonds.

Sign the petition

Urge the Kimberley Process to include all diamonds that fund human rights violations in their definition of conflict diamonds.

• Sign the petition here

Background to Israeli diamonds

Read more on Israel’s blood diamonds
Find out more about the Boycott Israeli Diamonds campaign

Katie

Take a look at the Leblas fair trade wedding ring collection

The collection starts at just £245 for 9ct options (perfect for our economic climate!) and goes through to 18ct.

Leblas have also launched their first 9ct fair trade gold engagement ring with a 0.2 ct Canadian diamond at £795.

View the Leblas fair trade engagement ring collection

Special offer – 20% off

Don’t forget, you still have time to take advantage of Leblas’ special February offer for Ethical Weddings readers.

Get 20% off all items in the Leblas collection until 28 February 2011 when quoting “ethicalweddings“.

Find out more about Leblas.

What next?

• Talk to other brides and grooms in the Ethical Weddings Forum
• Sign up for our Ethical Weddings monthly newsletter

Katie

Just quote ‘ethicalweddings‘ to get 20% off any item from the the Leblas range.

With Valentine’s Day in mind, the range now includes their ethical Diamond Heart Collection: heart diamond pendants (pictured), rings and earrings all made with ethical 18ct white gold sourced from Oro Verde in Colombia.

A 15% premium is paid to the miners and they work in a co-operative to ensure they protect the environment where they mine.

All the diamonds and rubies in the collection come from known sources in Canada and Tanzania where careful consideration is given to the welfare of the miners, the environment and ecology of the land, and the final price.

Whether you’re looking for a special gift for Valentine’s Day, a wedding or engagement ring, or a present for a very special bridesmaid, take a look at the Leblas collection.

Place your order by 28 February 2011 to take advantage of the 20% off special offer.

Find out more about Leblas – fine jewellery

Katie

To welcome in 2011 we’re delighted to bring you a special offer from ethical jewellery designers, Ingle & Rhode.

Maybe you took advantage of the festivities to pop the question? Or maybe you were the one to say ‘yes’.

Either way, just quote “Ethical Weddings” to get 10% off a beautiful Ingle & Rhode engagement ring or wedding band before 31 January 2011.

Find out more about Ingle & Rhode

Katie

For more than a decade, informed consumers have known about the suffering caused by the trade in conflict diamonds.  The release of the movie Blood Diamond in 2006 meant that this awareness crossed over into the mainstream.

These days, most newly engaged couples have at least some interest in checking that their engagement ring hasn’t contributed to the problem.

Reassuring consumers

Since 2003, the Kimberley Process (KP) has been the main (and usually the only) reassurance available to consumers. A KP certificate would be issued by the government of a diamond-producing nation, and would state in effect that a specific batch of rough diamonds had been produced legitimately.

This was basically as far as it went, the KP never applied a track-and-trace service to specific cut-and-polished diamonds.

A flawed process

Though matters are now coming to a head, the problems with the KP have been apparent for some time. Firstly, it has always been extremely porous, desperately vulnerable to smuggling and administrative corruption.  That it applied to packages of rough diamonds only was another huge weakness. Once a rough stone was passed as Kimberley Certified, it would go for cutting and polishing before disappearing into the notoriously opaque wholesale diamond market.

On questioning a retailer, an interested consumer would struggle to learn which mine or even which country their stone had come from, merely that it had been ‘Kimberley Certified’ – a re-hash of the old assurance about ‘reputable suppliers’ that never meant much in the first place.

A convenient smokescreen

For some years now, NGOs such as Global Witness have been pointing out the gaping holes in the KP.

During this time, the only people pretending that the process was working were the exact same people who had a commercial incentive for perpetuating this myth – namely those diamond dealers and retailers who wanted to continue trading as they always had done, while using the KP as a convenient smokescreen behind which they could evade tricky questions from consumers.

The founders walk

In the last eighteen months, this sham has really started to unravel, as two of the most prominent men behind the formation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) have walked out in disgust.

In 2009, Ian Smillie of Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) announced his departure –

I feel that I can no longer in good faith contribute to a pretense that failure is success, or to the kind of debates we have been reduced to… The KP has been confronted by many challenges in the past five years, and it has failed to deal quickly or effectively with most of them…

There is a basic truth: when regulators fail to regulate, the systems they were designed to protect collapse. In this case, the diamond industry, which means so much to so many, is being ill served by what has become a complacent and almost completely ineffectual Kimberley Process.

Without a genuine wakeup call and the growth of some serious regulatory teeth, it leaves the industry exposed, vulnerable and perhaps, in the end, unworthy of protection.

In 2010, Smillie was followed by Martin Rappaport, another leading name behind the creation of the KPCS. For Rappapport, the final straw was the flow of diamonds onto the market from the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe.

Under the control of the Zimbabwean army, these diamonds are extracted and sold to fund a brutal military dictatorship and yet – as far as the KPCS is concerned – they don’t qualify as conflict diamonds. It was this absurdity that prompted Rappaport to denounce the system he had helped to establish –

The Kimberley Process is aiding and abetting severe human rights violations as it certifies, legalizes and legitimizes blood diamonds. Corrupt governments have turned the KP on its head. Instead of eliminating human rights violations, the KP is legitimizing them.

The diamond trade and consumers cannot trust the Kimberley Process, its system of warranties or those that promote the Kimberley Process as an assurance of the legitimate source of diamonds.

We must face the fact that the Kimberley Process is a politicized, government-controlled initiative that is incapable of eliminating human rights violations in the diamond sector.

Which way now for the ethical consumer?

So where does this leave ethically-minded consumers? Essentially, they are confronted with the same issue the diamond business has always presented: a lack of transparency in the supply chain.

Short of travelling to the source and buying a diamond directly, there are a couple of main ways around this.

1. Mine-free diamonds

One route is to avoid mined diamonds altogether, and to buy a synthetic or ‘cultured’ diamond created in a laboratory.

FOR
These stones are genuinely ‘conflict-free’, and avoid the environmental damage that inevitably results from mining.

AGAINST
The High Temperature High Pressure process by which they are created is hardly blameless environmentally.

They are not commercially available in white, so consumers are left choosing from a range of yellows, oranges and pinks.

Many engaged couples find the idea of a stone created in a laboratory less romantic than one produced millions of years ago within the earth’s crust.

2. Canadian diamonds

For those keen on a mined white diamond, the best bet probably lies in the frozen northwest of Canada. A small handful of Canadian diamond brands offer a full track-and-trace service on their stones (each cut and polished diamond is laser-inscribed with a unique tracking number, which consumers can enter into the relevant website to obtain the full history of their individual stone).

FOR
Unlike the Kimberley Process, this system isn’t porous – couples can obtain genuine peace of mind that their diamond is conflict-free, and wasn’t produced in dangerous or exploitative conditions.

AGAINST
We can’t ignore the environmental impact of the mines themselves. While diamond extraction doesn’t make widespread use of toxic chemicals (unlike gold mining for example), there is no denying that open cast mining creates a scar on the landscape.

ON BALANCE
Traceable Canadian diamonds are not ethically perfect, but right now they are probably the best option for couples who want a mined white diamond.

The search for an ethical diamond continues

The collapse of the Kimberley Process will re-open the debate about what it really means for a diamond to be ‘ethical’.

Whatever the long-term answer, it must surely involve genuine transparency and traceability in the supply chain. In this sense, the death of the Kimberley Process should be seen as a positive step – the lifting of a smokescreen that for too long has obscured a whole multitude of sins.

It’s just a shame that countless ethical consumers will now look at rings purchased over the last few years, and be left with nagging doubts about where their diamonds really came from.

David Rhode is a Director at Ingle & Rhode, a bespoke jeweller in London, specialising in engagement rings made with Canadian diamonds and fair trade gold.

When: Friday 26 November, 10am-6pm
Where: Unit 1.03 Clerkenwell Workshops, 27-31 Clerkenwell Close, Farringdon, London EC1R 0AT

Find out more about CRED Jewellery.

Katie

We reported back in April that the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) and the Association of Responsible Mining (ARM) had launched Fairmined and Fairtrade standards for gold and precious metals.

Now the National Association of Goldsmiths (NAG) is putting together an ethics working committee to help connect socially and environmentally responsible mining communities with western jewellers.

Greg Valerio (founder of Cred Jewellery and co-founder of ARM) and Vivien Johnston (founder of Fifi Bijoux) will work with the NAG’s board to build a resource that jewellers can use to make sure their supplier chains are as transparent as possible.

Johnston, who has been working on auditable standards and traceability for the British Ethical Jewellery Association (BEJA) said:

The partnership between small mining communities and UK small businesses seems a natural one, however both require some support and structure to maximise the benefits to each

While Valerio, who has been working with Fairtrade Foundation in the run up to the launch of certified gold in the UK in February 2011, commented:

Some of the biggest reputational risks the jewellery trade faces today are directly linked to our supply chains. The NAG supply chain ethics working group has been established to research, review and resource jewellers in the UK with practical ways they can positively tackle the human rights and environmental issues linked to our industry

Step by step (and with a lot of hard work from committed activists like Greg and Vivien) we’re getting closer to an ethical jewellery industry.

Katie

Share your thoughts on ethical engagement and wedding rings in the Ethical Weddings Forum

Until 22 August – generous souls that they are - they’re giving us 20% off their entire collection.

So if you spot a ravishing ring you’d like for your wedding band but it isn’t in the wedding section – no problem! Or maybe you’re after a special necklace or earrings for your bridesmaid. Just quote “ethicalweddings” to get your 20% discount.

• Find out more about Leblas

Katie

Why an ethical wedding?

We aren’t big consumers in our personal lives, so we didn’t want a wedding that created a huge carbon footprint. We’re mindful of most of the issues, and it seemed natural to us to question a lot of the traditional aspects of weddings that create so much unnecessary waste and expenditure.

What was the most difficult bit?

The biggest difficulty was that most of my family live in Australia, but we live in London and most of our friends live here too.  A way around all our family flying over here is that we have two weddings – one in the UK and one in Australia. That obviously increased the budget and our carbon footprint!

What were the best bits?

Pre-loved jewellery
My engagement ring came from Gray’s Antique Market in Bond St, and it’s a beautiful 1920s platinum ring. Mark bought me some antique pearls from the same place as a wedding present and Mark’s ring was found in an antique store as well – a very romantic platinum band with engraved flowers all around it.

My wedding ring is a 1930s platinum eternity band from a second hand dealer in Portobello Market, and I found my rhinestone earrings in another shop in the market. We got all of our rings engraved with our wedding and engagement dates, but we just loved that they were pre-loved – we think it’s incredibly romantic and also we’re thrilled with the classic designs.

The best presents EVER
Because we were travelling through Asia on the way to our Australian wedding, we asked our guests to buy us intangible presents. They could choose to buy us a vegan dinner on our trip, an experience like a yoga class, or they could donate to a local project, like an orphanage in Bali. One friend even bought us a gift voucher to Kiva – so we could lend to an entrepreneur in a developing country.

The honeymoon
On our honeymoon we stayed in small eco resorts, family run hotels, yoga retreats and an awesome hotel in Singapore that served salads for breakfast.  Part of our honeymoon was even spent doing a fasting retreat in a yoga centre!

The lovely venue
We found a gorgeous old Tudor house and barn which is run by an education trust that puts on gardening workshops for children and young offenders.

We got married in the barn and then because of our beautiful summer’s day we had most of the afternoon reception outdoors, in the Tudor garden and orchards, playing cricket and having picnics on the grass. We hardly needed any decorations because the barn already had fairy lights and a huge vaulted wooden ceiling. Outside there were lovely fruit orchards and hedges, so we just got a few flowers to decorate tables for the evening.

Our venue in Australia was the local surf club, so we got “married” again on the beach – no decorations needed.  We just used green apples in fish bowls with some green foliage on the tables with a few flowers.

A summer picnic
During the day, the vegans and raw foodists had fresh fruit and raw vegan chocolate brownies, made by Charlie’s Raw Treats.

We found a local brewery, which supplied biodegradable cases of beer as well as zero-carbon water from Belu (we couldn’t have tap water at the venue). Everything else was recycled afterwards.

In the evening, while the carnivores had locally-grown lamb and vegetables, the veggies, vegans and raw foodists had a fabulous creation of raw lasagne (from a Russell James recipe), and then a specially made dessert of raw chocolate brownie, raw lemon cheesecake and berries.

A nice side effect
Although we were both interested in green issues before we got married, going on a raw vegan diet had a welcome side effect for both of us. I lost over 7kgs (two dress sizes) just by cutting out dairy and meat, and Mark lost a bunch of weight too. By the time the wedding came around, we felt so much healthier and had so much more energy while we were travelling on our honeymoon.

Fashion
I know it doesn’t sound very eco but I had more than one dress… hear me out!
I got a big traditional dress second-hand off EBay, and a slinkier dress to wear later and to take to Australia. Both of these dresses have been sold again to Ebay, so hopefully someone else will wear them and love them too. I made my own headpiece, and found an antique paper umbrella from Greenwich markets.

We recycled the bridesmaids’ dresses from the first wedding for the second one in the UK. Thank god they worked on all four girls!

How did it go on the day?

It was just such a chilled day, and it was so fab having my mum, little brother and uncle over from Australia. Thank god the weather was good. It’s always a gamble in the UK, even in summer. We were panicking because we didn’t really have a plan B – we would have all had to be jammed into the barn.

The sun meant that we could play around in the sunshine, and everyone was relaxed and happy. The live local jazz band really added to the day too.

The venue provided an archery range, we had giant Jenga, and a big cricket game broke out between the Aussies and the Brits. All in all, it wasn’t the most expensive or complicated wedding – but it was truly spectacular!

Getting married on the beach at the Australian wedding was amazing, we could even see whales on the horizon. The funniest thing was at the end of the night – we reused the apple decorations to play a game with all the guests.

Top tips for an ethical and green wedding

• Don’t beat yourself up
  Some things will feel easy to make eco – and others will feel hard. Do the best you can do, but don’t worry if you don’t get absolutely everything right. I felt like I had to compromise on some things to keep my groom happy, but I was happy with most of the actions we took.
• Minimise the unimportant
  Ignore the things like party favours on tables (nobody will miss them) or cake boxes (we had just ten just in case). If you are printing programmes or menus, not everyone needs a copy. As long as there is good food and drink – people don’t care about anything else!
• Go secondhand
  There are so many gorgeous wedding dresses on EBay that have been worn only for a couple of days. You can find bridesmaids dresses, shoes, and all sorts of decorations that other more zealous brides feel like they couldn’t do without. You can benefit!
  Secondhand jewellery is also extremely romantic and if you go for a classic design, it will look brand new.
• Don’t be afraid to ask!
  When we first met our caterer, both of us were carnivores – by the time our taste testing rolled around Mark was mostly vegetarian and I was a raw vegan foodist! I was embarrassed at first to ask to change the menu to include a raw option – even though we were paying for it (and I used to be an event planner!). The caterer was totally fine with it, and very intrigued about making a raw lasagne.
• Finally – make it fun and totally YOUR DAY
  Don’t worry about what everyone else thinks you “should” have – and make it as personal as you want. There aren’t any rules anymore!

About Denise
Denise is the creator of Raw Brides – a website for women who want to look fabulous for their big day and beyond by eating a natural, whole foods diet and changing their mindset about how they feel about their bodies. You can find out more and also download a free ebook from www.rawbrides.com