When my (now) husband proposed, he did it the old fashioned way, complete with the little velvet box. Inside was a brilliant sapphire and gold ring he had chosen to avoid cursing our marriage with a blood diamond. While we were informed about the dark side of the diamond industry, we did some research and faced the sad truth that other valuable gems and metals, including sapphires and gold, were not much cleaner than diamonds. Truth be told-I wanted a little bling to broadcast our union, but not with such a high human and environmental price tag. Yet with a little patience and research we found that it is possible to find jewelry you can feel good about.

The recent film Blood Diamond highlights the bloody history of a diamond industry that funded rebel violence in places like Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This history hit the mainstream radar in the 1990s and led to the 2000 establishment of the Kimberley Process to end the trade of blood diamonds. The Kimberley Process is a certification program designed to track the origins of all diamonds. The process requires and relies on member nations to pass and apply laws to enforce this certification program.

The Kimberley Process was in full swing by 2003, but in 2006 several scandals emerged to reveal its shortcomings. These included the revelation that blood diamonds were being smuggled out of the Ivory Coast and traded as Kimberly Process diamonds via Ghana or Mali. Although industry studies claim that 99% of all diamonds on the market are conflict-free, the scandals and the release of the film prompted calls for strengthening the Kimberley Process.

If you are going to buy diamonds, there are a few things you can do to be more confident about your purchase. You can buy a used diamond from a consignment shop or follow Amnesty International's guide for buying conflict-free diamonds. Amnesty suggests asking your jeweler the following four questions:

• How can I be sure that none of your jewelry contains conflict diamonds?
• Do you know where the diamonds you sell come from?
• Can I see a copy of your company's policy on conflict diamonds?
• Can you show me a written guarantee from your diamond suppliers stating that your diamonds are conflict-free?

(Source: http://www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds/BuyersGuide.pdf.)

It is important to consider that neither the Kimberley Process nor the Amnesty guide address environmental concerns involved in diamond mining.

The gold that houses your diamond is another cause for concern. Two-thirds of all new gold is mined in huge open-pit mines, some so large they can be seen from space. Because so much land is required for these mines, they displace people and disrupt traditional livelihoods like farming.

Gold mining is one of the dirtiest industries around, and according to NoDirtyGold.org, over 20 tons of waste is produced to make a single gold ring. In the mining process, stacks of waste rock are created. Waste rock contains only small amounts of gold along with toxic metals and acids that when exposed to oxygen and water leach out. According to No Dirty Gold's report on dirty metals, "Mine waste has turned groundwater thousands of times more acidic than battery acid" (4). After the gold has been extracted and crushed, it is then sprayed with cyanide. Some mines use a few tons of cyanide a day and the cyanide-coated waste is abandoned, completely contaminating the earth and area water sources.

There are two options to avoid buying "dirty gold." The first is to buy reclaimed or recycled gold. The other is to buy from one of the jewelers such as Tiffany & Co. or Leber Jewelers who have signed on to the No Dirty Gold Golden Rules, which include the following:

• Respect for basic human rights
• Safe working conditions
• Respect for workers' rights and labor standards
• Ensure that operations are not located in areas of armed or militarized conflict
• Ensure that projects do not force communities off their lands.
• No dumping of mine wastes into the ocean, rivers, lakes, or streams
• Ensure that projects are not located in protected areas, fragile ecosystems or other areas of high conservation or ecological value

(Source: http://www.nodirtygold.org/goldenrules.cfm)

Unfortunately diamonds and gold are just the most visible troubled jewelry industries. The mining of all valuable gemstones and precious metals have similar issues to that of diamonds and gold. It is important to seek out fair trade practices wherever possible.

Three companies that make excellent options for fair trade and conflict-free jewelry are Green Karat, Brilliant Earth, and Leber Jewelers.