“Diamonds” by Dawn Maurer(edison)

            Diamonds have been a symbol of wealth and love for ages.  “Diamonds are forever” and “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” have been said and heard by everyone.  However, the means to get these minerals are devastating to both humans and the environment.            To mine a diamond, most of the time the method used to called strip or open pit mining.  This extracts dirt and rocks to get to the diamonds underneath.  What is done with the overflow? It is wasted and the land areas around these sites are harmful to the ecosystem.  Forests may be destroyed and pollution of the air and land occur.  There is also a way to mine diamonds in the ocean.  Not only does this cause water pollution but in order to get to the diamonds, a man-made wall must be built and then sand must be bulldozed and pumped out.  Although these diamonds are very harmful to the environment, it is still not as controversial as a “blood diamond.”            A conflict diamond (a.k.a. blood diamond) is a diamond that comes from forces that use diamonds to gain military power in undeveloped countries.   These “forces” are usually rebels that abuse other humans and force people into slavery by making them search for diamonds in places such as Africa.  Not only can digging by hand for diamonds be hard labor, but these poor people are physically abused by these rebels.  There was a great conflict in Sierra Leone (West Africa) in the late 90’s which the movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio is based on.  For eight years these rebels not only forced people to search for billions of dollars worth of diamonds, they also lead out methodical amputations of limbs and killings of innocent people brought into slavery against their wills.            Most of the world has become aware of blood diamonds.  The United Nations General Assembly became aware of the issue and put up a resolution to stop the connection of diamonds and wars in areas such as Sierra Leone.  They put up measures to ensure you are not buying a conflict diamond such as certificates among countries that export diamonds, audits, monitoring how countries obtain their diamond supply and new, harsher laws against those who fail to follow the new restrictions.            In my opinion, although it does help to be sure your diamond is not a blood diamond; I believe any diamonds that come from the earth are bad.  Just because diamonds are mined safely for people in places such as Canada, this is still very harmful to our environment.What is the solution to this problem? Lab created diamonds.  These diamonds are chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined.  This is also true for other mined gems such as rubies and sapphires.  What are the positives of deciding to purchase lab diamonds?  First of all, the quality is the finest because the gems are grown in controlled environments.  You cannot get a perfectly cut mined diamond but you can get a perfectly cut created diamond.  They also have the best clarity.  They are durable (lab diamonds cut through glass like mined) and a good business will offer warranty and replace lost diamonds at little or no charge.  One of the best things about these diamonds is the price.  Savings can reach from 60-75%.  A three carat diamond on diamondnexuslabs.com ranges from $800-$1200.00.  A three carat diamond solitaire on zales.com is around $40,000.00!  These lab rings and jewelry are gorgeous and you cannot tell the difference.  They are environmentally safe (all you green parties out there) and people are not killed in the process of obtaining them.  They are an obviously perfect solution to this social problem.http://www.onlinejewelryearrings.com/diamond-guide/laboratory-diamonds-217/www.stopblooddiamonds.orgwww.diamondsforafricafund.orgwww.enviroliteracy.org 

This entry was posted on 30. October 2009 at 22:35 and is filed under Social Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.