Over the past few decades, Earth Day has become a much more popular, talked-about, and even serious celebration in America. As we all continue to feel the powerful effects of climate change and public health crises, it’s easy to see why.
The very first Earth Day celebration was held on April 22, 1970. You might say it was a big hit from the beginning, as an estimated 20 million people attended tens of thousands of inaugural Earth Day events all across the United States. On that very first Earth Day, many of those events were held at schools and community centers.
By the time Earth Day turned 20 in 1990, more than 200 million people in 141 countries had taken part in some sort of Earth Day activities. This year, some 53 years after it blossomed into existence, Earth Day will be celebrated all around the world on the same calendar date. April 22 also happens to fall on a Saturday this year, so many people will turn the celebration into a whole-weekend event. The official theme of Earth Day this year is “Invest in Our Planet.”
Here at Zillion, we love a good celebration. We’re also deeply devoted to encouraging, promoting, and empowering sustainable practices in the jewelry industry. You might say we’re invested in both our planet and the precious gemstones and metals that Earth creates for us to celebrate, share, and enjoy.
Protecting Earth with Mercury Free Mining
For the jewelry insurance professionals at Zillion, it all starts with responsible, ethical, and sustainable gold-mining and gold-sourcing practices, procedures, and technologies. Zillion has developed a deep and mutually rewarding partnership with Mercury Free Mining (MFM), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating the use of mercury (which is highly toxic) in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM)— and ensuring public trust in the jewelry industry’s gold supply chain.
Zillion serves as an Ambassador Circle Member of the Leadership Council at Mercury Free Mining, and takes several steps to promote awareness around the critical importance of sustainable, efficient, and safe gold-mining practices. We also take great care to support causes that have a powerful impact on our industries and communities. Organizations like MFM, Feeding America, Black Girls Code, and Jewelers for Children are all near and dear to our hearts.
The average person may not be aware of the stakes at hand, though. Did you know that around 40% of global mercury pollution is caused by 15-20 million ASGM organizations who have no practical alternative to using mercury in their gold-mining operations?
Other Ways Jewelry Practices Impact the Earth
Whether you use the words sustainable, environmentally-conscious, earth-friendly, or other “green” descriptors, there’s no denying that the jewelry industry (and by extension, the jewelry insurance sub-industry in which Zillion operates and innovates) heavily impacts our planet, its environment, and its people. From the early days of relentless, ruthless, and mindless mining of diamonds and other precious gemstones all the way up to our ever-evolving, increasingly complex world of 2023, a lot has changed. Unfortunately, the costs of procuring, refining, marketing, and selling diamonds, gold, and other precious minerals continue to prove steep, deep, and far-reaching.
Dirty air and smog. Water pollution. Soil degradation. Deforestation. These and other scars are inflicted on our planet by many practices employed by the jewelry industry. Did you know, for example, that a single mined carat of gold releases more than 125 pounds of carbon? Or that the mining of just one diamond carat displaces 250 tons of soil? Or that from 2005 to 2015 alone, 4,500 square miles of the Amazon rainforest was eliminated due to destructive mining of minerals? Sounds impossible, especially given the major advancements in technology today. Alas, all of this data is true.
The Zillion Difference
It all adds up to a lot to absorb—both for our precious earth and those of us who care about our planet’s present and future health. At Zillion, we do our daily best to serve as a force for positive change within our industry. We don’t pretend to be doing anything close to saving the world. But we definitely take pride in helping alleviate some of the strain on this increasingly fragile and fraught world.
When you opt to purchase a jewelry insurance policy with Zillion via your local jeweler, you get no-hassle, paper-free, one-click protection that empowers you to wear it with confidence. Our industry-disrupting embedded insurance technology integrates with your chosen jewelry retailer to do all the heavy lifting—and remove any strain on the environment.
You can get going right away with comprehensive, affordable, and easily initiated jewelry insurance coverage that keeps you and your jewelry covered at all times—wherever in the world you travel. Even in the case of natural disasters (otherwise known in old-school industry terminology as “acts of God”). That’s our promise to you.
We like to call it insurance that just clicks. And we invite you to discover all the ways that Zillion can help you–and the planet we all love and call home.
Thank you and enjoy Earth Day! Better yet, make every day Earth Day!
