Today while sitting at a railroad crossing with my engine off waiting for a freight train to thunder by, I saw a man do something far from unusual. He was smoking a cigarette, and without a thought as the last carriage went by, dropped it still lit and smoking to the ground. As the cigarette smoldered, so too did my heart. I wanted to drag that man out of his lifted truck and beg of him why. Why do you not care about the world and those around you. What could possibly compel you to casually disregard the possibility for something as awful as starting a fire in the oil soaked garbage that litters the side of the tracks in still dry brush?
Sadly this attitude is prevalent in the jewelry industry on a scale that is abominable. What do Jewelers do with used up toxic plating solutions laced with cyanide and arsenic? Why pour them down the drain of course. What to do about those toxic fumes and silicon particles from casting that are so dangerous, volatile and toxic full face chemical and particulate masks are required in any other monitored industry? Why they pump it outside of course into the surrounding neighborhoods. What to do with the massive open pits from precious metal mines coated in sulfur and toxins that can leach into the groundwater? Leave them right where they are and let the next generation deal with it.
This is not simply a matter of blame, it is a matter of understanding. I am not free from blame for these practices as I too blindly sold and created without a thought as to how it was being done. It is not that people or the industry are going out of their way to harm the environment. I don't believe that man who dropped the cigarette had any ill will towards those around him, nor do any Jewelers who release toxic, mutagenic and heavy metal compounds into the environment (usually in heavily concentrated population areas such as downtown la or even your neighborhood jeweler). It is just the easiest thing for them to do and most often they are not even aware of the damage and potential for greater damage they are doing. Education is needed to show the consequences of these toxic actions and choices.
A part of why the studio was created and continued is to overcome this blindness and near sightedness. As my eyes have been opened, I want to open the eyes of both the public and other Jewelers in the industry of the harm caused every day by casual negligence. Not knowing is no longer an excuse. As an industry we must take responsibility for our actions, we must realize that their is a greater cost than what is on our books for the profits we receive. We must take responsibility for and examine every choice and every action for its consequence.
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