green / eco-friendly engagement rings and wedding bands

Rings are very obviously a key ingredient a couple considers when getting married. I love the symbolism involved. It is a very recognizable symbol of your love for and commitment to your spouse. A ring, due to its circular nature, is also a symbol of eternity, something that has no beginning and no end. This is such a beautiful picture of a what our love for our spouses should be! Furthermore, it was the Egyptians, I believe, who began the tradition of wearing the wedding ring on the third finger of the left hand because of their belief that the vein of that finger travels directly to the heart. A bit corney? Sure, maybe. But as you might have noted in a previous post about rings, I really like them!

Since rings are often one of the first things purchased, I thought I’d begin my “Green Weddings” series with them. I have recently learned a lot about various options for going green with your ring, and I thought I’d pass the information along. But first, this is in no way meant to make anyone feel guilty about the ring they already have, or guilty about the one you want to buy! My own rings are not eco-friendly (as far as I know), so I’m in no place to point fingers. I just want to help inform those who really are trying to go all out green, and perhaps give a push to those who are considering it as an option.

Because your rings are going to be such precious symbols of your commitment to one another, you will likely put a good deal of thought into your choices. And surprisingly, there are a number of ways to be green, or eco-friendly, with your ring purchase! By going green you can help cut back on damage done to the earth through gold and diamond mining, and you can add your voice to that of others in protest of civil wars in Africa (and thus, loss of life) due to exploitation of the diamond trade. (If you want to know more about these things, do a quick Google search on gold mining and “blood” or “conflict” diamonds.)

Following are several suggestions for getting your rings from ethical and environmentally responsible sources. I really love some of this stuff and wish I had known about it back when Rich and I were purchasing our rings. Hindsight is always 20/20, eh?

My favorite suggestion by far is to look for an antique ring! There are a lot of gorgeous, previously loved rings on the market! I’m not a huge fan of eBay, mainly because good deals seem few and far between, but you could start your search there. You could also check out local estate sales; you can really hit the jackpot at one of those! Of course, searching estate sales for the perfect ring can be extremely time-consuming. So why not let someone do it for you! There are a number of people who make a business out of finding antique jewelry, polishing it up, and selling it. Check out Doyle & Doyle, one place that I have fallen in love with! They have some really beautiful, very unique rings, most of which are antique or estate pieces. Most of the diamonds in their rings are old cut stones. This means they were mined, cut, and originally sold in the 1940s or earlier, so you can be assured that your purchase is not going to fund any current conflict.

If you don’t like the idea of a previously owned ring, then why not look for a jeweler who uses recycled metals and either conflict-free diamonds or synthetic diamonds? Many jewelers take old metals and refashion them into beautiful new settings. You’d NEVER know the difference!! And many of these same jewelers offer diamonds guaranteed to be mined, cut, and polished with socially and environmentally responsible practices. Two such jewelers are Brilliant Earth and Leber Jeweler.

If you want to avoid mined diamonds of all kinds, consider lab created synthetic diamonds. These diamonds are chemically, optically and physically the same as diamonds made by nature; these created stones are, in fact, real diamonds! And the fact that testing laboratories must use sophisticated equipment to determine if a diamond is nature-made or lab-grown suggests that these stones are indistinguishable to the average person. Two places you can look for synthetically created stones are greenKarat and Apollo Diamond.

Finally, an idea that I am very intrigued by is a wooden wedding ring. Simply Wood Rings creates their rings out of salvaged lumber. But don’t let the word “lumber” fool you. This wood, as they note on their website, might come from anywhere….such as “the elegant neck of a violin….or the wood from the baseball bat of a mother’s young son.” To that I say SWEET!!! But wait! There’s even more. You aren’t limited to rings made of only one type of wood, though they are available in abundance. You also have the option of combining wood with recycled silver or bronze, jade, turquoise, stone, SAND from the SAHARAH DESERT(!!!) or another type of wood! They can even mount a diamond on a wooden band!! The options are pretty much limitless. I love it!

As you can see, there are MANY options out there for the eco-conscience bride and groom. And you don’t have to sacrifice beauty, uniqueness, or quality to incorporate your rings into your green wedding. The more I research planning green weddings, the more I wish I had done this for my own wedding! However, I do believe we’ve gotten a second chance with at least one ring! Rich lost his wedding band only five months after we were married, and it never has been replaced. I’m thinking he might be really happy with a wooden one! And that would make me pretty happy too.