Valentine’s Day advice and budding eco-bromances
You may have a hard time believing this, but DTE loves Valentine’s Day. It’s the time of year when we go all out showing our love for the woman of our dreams (we’re talking about Mother Nature of course). And what’s better than that, how about a double-dose of Earth loving. But we’re not the only ones teaming and being doubly committed to the cause. Our other love, Grist.org, recently ran a list of 14 other couples who are pairing up for the planet. And wait – did they just coin the phrase eco-bromance? Check out the article and list HERE. And tell us in the comments below – which new eco-bromance is cooler? Eddie Vedder and Kelly Slater or Bill Nye and Ed Begley?
But now something serious about Valentine's Day and greenwashing. Wal-Mart is the nation’s largest gold jewelry retailer. Not surprising as Wal-Mart is also the largest music retailer, largest sporting goods retailer, largest grocery seller and largest apparel retailer amongst others. And let’s not forget the largest real-estate developer, energy consumer, and private truck-fleet operator. So to say that Wal-Mart can’t drive the market on smart, sustainable business is an error in conclusion – despite what we all may think of their community destructive business practices, their precarious labor issues, and their colossal carbon footprint. But what if the driver is going off a cliff – will the rest of the caravan follow?
Such is the case with Wal-Mart’s new “Love, Earth” Collection of, “fine jewelry created with material from eco-responsible, community minded sources.” - thus validating Walmart’s leading role as a signatory of No Dirty Gold, a campaign of Earthworks. On its merit, Wal-Mart’s new collection appears to be a great idea, and as the Boulder Weekly recently reported, “appealing to anyone concerned about the environment and human society." But is there such a thing as socially and environmentally responsible gold mining.
“As a signatory to No Dirty Gold’s Golden Rules criteria for more responsible metals sourcing, Wal-Mart has committed to move its precious metals sourcing to mines that meet these criteria,” reads a statement by the No Dirty Gold campaign reported in the Boulder Weekly. “We commend Wal-Mart for its efforts to improve the traceability of metals in its jewelry. This is an important step in the process of making jewelry supply chains more socially and environmentally responsible.” In the same statement, however, No Dirty Gold notes that there are no large-scale mining operations that have yet been verified by independent third parties as “fully responsible.” – reported the Boulder Weekly. This means that, no matter where Wal-Mart gets its gold, the end product cannot be called “environmentally friendly.
