Social
Responsibility and Environmental
Sustainability in the Jewelry Industry
By Eric Braunwart, president
Columbia Gem House, Vancouver, WA
Years ago, buying gems and
jewelry was all about feeling good and looking good. Nowadays, the jewelry purchase
also has a lot to do with doing good for the people who mined, cut and set the
gems we find so beautiful.
My title sounds like quite a mouthful. When did social responsibility and environmental
sustainability become factors in and goals of jewelry manufacturing? Have you
ever visited a Third World sweatshop or seen the pollution caused by careless
disposal of chemicals used in jewelry making? As more and more gem cutting and
jewelry making have gone off shore and the fair labor and clean environment practices
we take for granted in America have been ignored in the source countries for goods,
there has been growing awareness inside and outside the jewelry industry of a
vast disparity between industrial practices here and abroad.
This awareness has fueled unilateral reforms on the part of many in the U.S.
jewelry industry. For example, all companies recycle metals and most of us have
played roles in supporting various community causes. Still, in today’s world,
and with today’s increasingly conscientious consumers, these concepts have
taken on meanings beyond mere voluntarism. These new socially savvy consumers
are expecting and demanding more in terms of social responsibility from the companies
whose products they buy. Nevertheless, this evolution has been relatively slow
within the jewelry industry.
Black ink and golden rules
Eight years ago, Columbia Gem House, Inc. created its Quality Assurance and
Fair Trade Protocols. At that time, most of the people we spoke with thought we
were a little off our rocker. The change in attitude since we started has been
slow, but consistent, and, finally, after eight years, noticeable. Not a week
goes by that we do not receive emails from consumers in the US, EU, Japan and
Korea asking more about what we are doing and where they can purchase this jewelry.
One retailer told me “Three years ago, they would have an occasional buyer
inquire about our environmental and social position. Today, they are asked three
times a week, but they are no longer inquiries, but demands.”
According to the 2008 BBMG Conscious Consumer Report, 88% of Americans say
that the term “Socially Responsible” describes them well. A full 49%
support fair labor and trade practices, including employee safety, non-discrimination
and fair wages. These beliefs manifest themselves in a very interesting manner.
The Wall Street Journal (America’s iconic publication for capitalism),
wrote in their May 12, 2008 article, “Does Being Ethical Pay?”
“In all our tests, consumers are willing to pay a slight premium for ethically
made goods. But, they went much further in the other direction: they would buy
unethically made products only at a steep discount.”
Good versus goods
How do these stated consumer beliefs translate in the middle of a recession for
the jewelry industry? Conscientious consumers are demanding value, but value is
not only price to them. It is a combination of price, beauty and the reaffirmation
of their personal values in the purchases they make. Today, business is difficult
for nearly every industry, and jewelry is no exception.
Still, the retailers we work with who have embraced this “new consumerism,”
who have a written committed set of principles they can show their clients, are
doing better in sales than most of their counterparts. These added emotional values
may only appeal to 15 or 20% of your potential clients, but who wouldn’t
want a 15 or 20% advantage in this market?
Modern romance
How do we know that doing good for others does good for the bottom line? We
have done numerous tests where we send gemstone memos out to retail jewelers—one
with a stone that has a full mine to market, uplifting story, and another exact
matching stone with no mine-to-market narrative. We ask the retailers, when presenting,
to tell the story of the stone with a story and also enthusiastically show the
second that has none. Every single time, even at a higher price, the “fair
trade” stone has sold. Consumers want more for their money. They want their
jewelry purchase to be more than just quantity and price, and the Jewelry Industry
needs to give them this opportunity.
We all know most of our jewelry clients purchase jewelry for very personal
reasons. They want to be part of the design and development of their very own
piece of jewelry. Give them one more way to do this. Give them the ability to
practice their values and hopes when making a purchase. It works; just try it.
This was also sent out to our Colored Stone GemMail newsletter subscribers.
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