Consequently miners -- including children -- and their families live in poverty, often in insecure and unsafe environments, and with little access to food and water. Most are also exposed to dangerous levels of mercury, which they use to extract gold from mined ore. Use of mercury within artisanal and small-scale mining also causes immediate environmental pollution within communities, and carries significant health risks.
My awareness of these issues led me into a search for an ethical jeweler in England, where my partner and I live. I didn't know it at the time, but the one that we chose, CRED Jewellery, was the first in Europe to sell Fairtrade gold jewelry, according to Alan Frampton, managing director of the company.
No comments:
Post a Comment