Time to reclaim independence and leadership

Happy Independence Day everyone!

While we were getting ready for all the picnics and camping trips last week, we noticed an article in the New York Times that made us do a double take – “New British Leaders Cancel Third Heathrow Runway”.

“The government decided that enabling more flying was incompatible with Britain’s oft-stated goal of curbing emissions.”

Um, that’s right – the new coalition government cobbled together in the May election made up of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have stopped any additional runways being built in the country, citing the need for the British to curb their environmentally unsound addiction to easy and cheap air travel.

Let’s take this 4th of July week to make an ironic recognition of something that we’ve known in our gut for a long time: That Europe, and specifically the UK in this case, is kicking our butts in the realm of sustainability and general awareness of how not to screw up the environment so much (okay, the BP disaster makes an interesting corollary to this arguments, but that’s a blog for another day). Yup – 234 years after declaring our separateness, we find ourselves trailing far behind in reference to sustainable living. It takes a lot of courage and boldness to stand up and do the right thing for people and the planet when there’s politics and money that often rewards the easiest thing. Standing up to big business and curbing new runways in the name of saving the planet is certainly to be commended.

In the United Kingdom , the jewelry business world has long accepted the idea that the deleterious social and environmental impacts of the jewelry trade can be and should be minimized. TOBY POMEROY Jewelry is committed to spreading the word about fairly traded and environmentally sustainable jewelry here in the United States.

Among designers and jewelers around the world, there is a rapidly growing interest in offering fair trade and fair mined metals and gems. With the roughly 100 million people who depend upon small-scale and artisanal mining for their livelihood, we are excited about the significant difference we can make through promoting, educating and inspiring others to take the steps toward a jewelry industry that is socially responsible.

To borrow and rephrase a commitment of Greg Valerio, co-founder of the Alliance for Responsible Mining, it’s our mission to make it culturally unacceptable to purchase jewelry that is not independently certified as socially and environmentally responsible.

This July 4th, at TOBY POMEROY we’re declaring it’s time for us to make those responsible decisions that may be difficult but are good for everyone, not just the bottom line.

Until next time!