Beyond Ethical Sourcing

To date, there has not been any universally accepted criteria for the term “ethical sourcing”, nor is there any accrediting organization that regulates this term and audits businesses. This is problematic as it means that it is up to each business to create their own definition of what ethical sourcing means which can vary significantly. While ethical sourcing usually implies that products are made in sustainable and responsible ways, this term has been used so loosely now it does not hold much weight. Especially when anybody can use the phrase as a way to market their products and engage in the deceptive practice of greenwashing to increase their sales. Even large corporations are now using this term to describe their products without any accountability behind their claims. Almost 100% of the time if you were to ask a business if their items are “ethically sourced” they will say yes because they know if they say no they will probably lose the sale. With no accountability behind this term, it makes it very difficult to sort through the businesses that are purposefully deceiving others for profits and those trying to make a positive impact on the people and planet. The truth is unless you know exactly where things come from and have direct connections to your sources it is impossible to know the real social and environmental impacts of the products you are purchasing.

We consider ourselves going beyond ethical sourcing and operate with a high level of consciousness about how we interact with nature. We have dedicated a considerable amount of time and research towards understanding the impacts of the mining industry and how it affects the people and environment. Landscapes and natural habitats are often destroyed at the expense of human greed and consumption. To find others who operate in sustainable ways and work to preserve ecosystems is exceptionally challenging. However we have seen that mining does not always have to be a destructive process and it is possible to restore and regenerate lands with intelligent land use practices. Over the years we have developed strong relationships with miners, artists, and worker owned cooperatives to see the benefits they are providing for their communities. Those we work with understand that mining can be used as an opportunity to improve lands, not permanently degrade them further contributing to ecosystem and biodiversity loss. Our sources operate with minimalistic practices in production methods to reduce their environmental impact. Mining can also be used to provide numerous social benefits for local communities such as funding infrastructure projects like building schools, increasing access to clean water, and creating sustainable agriculture projects. In many instances once the mining sites have ended production reforestation takes place or it is otherwise converted and restored for another type of use for social or environmental benefit.

There is also the moral question of whether extracting anything from the Earth is ethical at all. However you are probably reading this on a phone or computer, which contain rare minerals that are extremely destructive to mine for. Yet out of necessity we use these items in our daily lives as we are largely reliant on technology to work and communicate. To us, the real problem lies with large scale mining operations that have little regard for the environment and often subject their workers to dangerous conditions for very little pay. Similar to agriculture, it is a lot more sustainable to have a network of many smaller operations spread across the planet than huge corporations whose only goal is profit.

In order to build trust and confidence in our products, we look beyond the corporate models that predominate the mining industry that is largely driven on profit and instead only support individual artisans, co-ops, and small businesses that show love and respect for what they do. We verify everyone we work with has full compliance with regulatory agencies, from mining certificates to environmental licenses and labor laws. Almost all of our products are mined by hand and not machine. Our polished products are made in lapidaries using minimalistic and traditional methods that have been practiced for generations. While our strict adherence to our ethical sourcing principles and our sustainable business initiatives do not often allow us to have the cheapest products or the most diverse product line, it is exceptionally rewarding to provide some of the highest quality stones and crystals from artisanal mining and lapidary operations across the world. That support really helps individual and small businesses to succeed, grow, and thrive while affording everyone involved a good quality of life.