Is taking stones from the earth to make jewelry bad for the earth?

Question

what about pearls? and like what about silver and stones from rocks? how can u support beautiful jewelry from creative people that doesn't get under payed and don't destroy the earth?

Answer 1

Mining processes can cause environmental problems associated with deforestation, strip mining, and runoff.

There are also social issues associated with how mining organizations treat miners in undeveloped countries and conflicts that are funded with gems, especially diamonds.

Answer 2

Most gemstones are mined. The metals used (like silver and gold) are mined. Mining is rarely without some environmental change that most people would call bad, although a lot of mining operations try to minimize these bad aspects.

Pearls are formed inside oysters. Basically, the animal has an irritation, like a grain of sand, that it encloses with shell material. I have often wondered (well, not often, occasionally, well actually, only just now) what the animal feels.

Is it like having a splinter to them? annoying but something that is just a minor distraction, or is it like having an abcessed tooth, which can be really painful? Obviously it is something that they find annoying in some sense, or they wouldn't react to it. Would a vegan animal-lover be a hypocrite to wear pearls? Because a lot of pearls are obtained by placing sand grains or other things inside the oysters to cause them to make the pearls. It is done on purpose. Should a new-age world-lover type find this a horrible thing?

(one of the other answers got me thinking this way, sorry for the side track)

Answer 3

Gathering stones as they lay on the ground is not bad for the earth, especially making jewelry. The stones can't be that big, as a boulder. Are you referring to mining or making jewelry yourself? My sister is an artist and collects stones, rocks, shells that are laying on the beach, sand and dirt and makes jewelry. Mining and stripping the earth with large construction equipment is destroying the earth, literally raping it.

Answer 4

Only if the jewelry leaves the Earth.

Answer 5

I find it ironic that so many new-age types who pay lip service to "Mother Earth" turn around and wear so many stones whose mining history they have not the faintest clue.

Mining in general is a pretty destructive operation. It's bad enough we do it for fossil fuels and metal ores. Do we have to do it to satisfy someone's vanity, too?

Answer 6

no, there are always stones to be created. Although if you asking about passing the stones well yeah i guess it sucks, then again ask mother earth how it feels to be passing SO many stones.

Answer 7

strip mining is terrible for the environment. Everytime we take something from our planet and dont replace it..we cause damage.

Answer 8

earth started to go bad the moment man step onto it

Answer 9

UNLESS U MAKE 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 PEICES OF JEWELLERY, LOL XXXXXXXXXXX