I give you this frog…
Mar 26th, 2007 by Jenny
Weddings can impact the environment in all sorts of mysterious ways. Take tree frogs for example.
The other day Phil and I went to watch a presentation all about how the trans-Amazonian highway is changing the rainforest. For the economies of Peru and Brazil to survive in the world market, they need a road to transport their wood and mined metals out of the Amazon. But the building of that road, the infamous trans-Amazonian highway, is causing massive deforestation in an area that was once untouched forest of incredible biodiversity.
This is very worrying. But I didn’t immediately spot any connection to ethical weddings!
The speaker at the presentation, Chris Kirkby, is doing a PhD at the University of East Anglia to determine whether ‘Ecotourism’ can help to preserve the vulnerable wildlife where the road is being built. He showed us several industries working in the area that are destroying the forest – and some of the beautiful species of birds, flowers and other creatures that are under threat – including some amazing looking tree frogs.
According to Chris, the new road has increased the spread of damaging industries in the Amazon. Cattle farming has wiped out vast swathes of the forest to make way for grazing. Worse still, mining for gold has meant that many thousands of hectares of forest have been not only uprooted, but left as a derelict wasteland without topsoil, where plants can no longer grow.
The road IS necessary and is already being built - local communities need it to develop a sustainable economy and have a fair chance in the world market. But we can help to minimise its impact by our consumer choices. Sustainable industries such as rubber-tapping and ecotourism should be encouraged in the area, while very damaging industries, such as cattle farming and mining, should not be. It is hoped that if demand for beef and gold from the Amazon diminishes, mines and cattle farms will be replaced by sustainable farming and forestry.
Amazon gold is in high demand at the moment because there is so little natural gold left under the earth. But according to greenKarat , who produce ethical jewellery:
‘significant amounts of already-mined gold sit idle, while mining continues at a pace of 2,500 tons a year. In fact, there is enough gold above ground to satisfy all demands of the jewellery industry for the next 50 years. Much of it sits in bank vaults and in the form of old and unused jewellery…
Demand for recycled gold, in conjunction with campaigns to clamp down on ecologically and socially unacceptable mining, holds the potential to effect change.’
Rings from greenKarat each have a ‘Green Assay’: a list of the green credentials of that particular ring, including the recycled metal content, details of the refinery process used, and any ecological information available about the practices of the jeweller or goldsmith who made the ring.
Our wedding rings will be one of the most lasting tokens of other, so it would be nice to think that they are also a lasting token of our respect for the world we live in too. We’re now investigating all the different kind of metals they could be made from. It’s really interesting to read about the ethics behind gold, platinum, silver and diamonds… and it’s even more fun choosing the rings we want!
Other interesting sites for anyone who’s going for ethical gold are:
1 Good Point Recycling http://www.retroworks.com/good_ideas.htm: An organisation which recycles computers and IT equipment to save them from creating hazardous landfill waste, and extract the gold from the machines to produce gold wedding rings.
2 Community Mining www.communitymining.org: An up-and-coming co-operation between small scale, locally run mining operations in developing countries, who are trying to establish universal standards for mining that recognise the importance of environmental and human rights issues. They do not sell rings but their plans are worth reading about if you’re interested in the issues involved.
In the mean time I’m off to investigate the ecotourism ideas that Chris told us about… I’ve got a honeymoon to plan as well!