Recycled Bride: Beyond the Diamond Ring
About Recycled Bride
Alternatives to the standard wedding bling for eco-gals and their eviro-men.
Have you ever questioned the logic of spending 3 months salary on an engagement ring? Through-the-roof jewelry prices, combined with the ugly realities of the diamond trade and the gold mining industry, are enough to make any smart couple choose alternative jewels. Here are four ways to find sustainable wedding bling:
Vintage and antique rings are always my personal favorite, because the greenest ring is the one that already exists. No new resources are used to make a vintage ring, so buying one is essentially recycling. And since diamonds, platinum and gold are among the most durable substances known to man, your ring will sparkle the same no matter what its age. Shop vintage jewelry websites like Israel Rose or search wedding resale sites like Recycled Bride for vintage treasures. Looking for a more affordable antique engagement ring? Search for a vintage zircon ring. Not to be confused with synthetic cubic zirconia, the zircon is a natural stone that comes in many colors. Silver zircons resemble diamonds, and were often used to make wedding jewelry pre-1950.
Brilliant Earth makes high quality jewelry from ethically sourced and recycled materials. Everything from Brilliant Earth's diamonds to their packaging are produced with social responsibility and sustainability in mind. Brilliant Earth also provides great educational content for couples interested in responsible jewelry buying.
GreenKarat is another great resource for ethical jewelry. Their mission is to increase awareness about dirty gold mining, and to teach consumers about the importance of only buying recycled gold. GreenKarat's homepage tells us that there is already enough mined gold in the world to satisfy all demands of the jewelry industry for the next 50 years. Isn't that amazing? If everybody recycled their gold jewelry and bought only post-consumer gold, we could shut down dirty gold mines everywhere.
Turtle Love Committee makes cool engagement rings and wedding bands that are good for people, the planet, and your wallet. When Turtle Love Committee founder Adrianne Zahner noticed that all of her friends and co-workers had nearly identical diamond engagement rings, she decided to create alternative, eco-friendly bling for hip brides, using stones like monhegan moonstone, topaz and amethyst.
Turtle Love Committee says it best: "We think that the decision to spend a lifetime together should be about love and commitment, not about expensive cookie-cutter jewelry." Hear, hear!
Helpful Links:
Engagement and Wedding Ring Gallery
Photo: Monhegan Moonstone ring from TLC
Photo: Hammered platinum men's wedding band from Brilliant Earth
I have a Turtle Love ring and I love it! I think the ring should reflect your personality. There is no rule that states the ring has to be a diamond that costs a ton.
While still expensive, you could also consider synthetic diamonds. They are real diamonds just grown in a lab, without the conflict and environmental issues that come with mined diamonds. They come in white, blue and yellow colors, and companies like D.NEA offer them in recycled gold or platinum. http://d.neadiamonds.com
I wish I had heard of turtle love before I got my ring. However my fiance and I are aware of the dirty gold and diamond mining. I had already decided that I did not want a diamond ring before I knew anything about blood diamonds and such, I simply did not want to be like everyone else, learning about it only confirmed my decision. Luckily my fiance agreed! We also thought spending 2-3 months salary on a ring was not a very wise decision. So the outcome of all of this is: He found a great website selling natural sapphire (what I wanted), in recycled white gold for a FRACTION for what he could have bought practically the same ring in a store. We are both Very pleased with the ring, and very happy with our decision!
Product Idea: "A Short Guide to a Happy Marriage" - just listed #1 relationship self-help '09 book by the Boston Globe. It is a beautifully done gift book that is perfect for engagements, weddings, etc. The cover is of shimmering, raised wedding bands, it open and closes with "tiffany blue" color pages, and has the sweetest black and white photos throughout. www.ashortguidetoahappymarriage.com
This is a great idea, there are so many rings out there that are not used.
this is beautiful , it has to be the prettyest ring i've ever seen !!!1
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