Earths resources

Earth’s Resources
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Earth’s Resources
Many people enjoy wearing jewelry made from gold and diamond as they are a sign of luxury, and social status in society. However, most of these consumers are unaware of the social and environmental destructions that are associated with the mining of these precious minerals. For instance, the mining of gold can affect the quality of water since the mineral is usually separated from its ore using cyanide. Similarly, when it is exposed in air and water, it forms sulfuric acid, a strong acid (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2014). These chemicals can be eroded into water bodies and affect its quality tremendously. Therefore, in as much as consumers have to buy this jewelry, they should make sure that the product poses no negative impacts on the world. The paper, therefore, highlights the responsibilities that citizens have in regards to purchasing the socially and environmentally destructive jewelry as well as the options of buying more environmentally friendly jewelry.
The mining of gold and diamond not only poses environmental risks on water bodies, but it also leads to deforestation and can potentially cause human death and injury as large tracks of land have to be evacuated for the minerals to be extracted (Bland, 2014). Citizens have a major role in compacting these risks. For instance, they need to seek transparency and responsibility through certifications from the companies that sell the jewelry before buying them to affirm that the extraction posed no negative impacts.

In this way, companies will be keener on making sure that they do not produce the minerals in a way that they destroy the environment or cause social damage since they will have to be accountable to their consumers. Similarly, the citizens should as well consider using jewelry made from eco-friendly materials such as recycled gold and diamond as this can reduce the risks posed since most of the already mined minerals are still in circulation and they can be recycled without losing their original quality.
In conclusion, since citizens being the consumers cannot be banned from using jewelry made from gold and diamond, they need to emphasize transparency and responsibility. Through this, they will ensure that the potential environmental and social hazards posed by the mining of these two minerals are reduced.
References
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Bland, A. (2014). The environmental disaster that is the gold industry. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved December 28, 2018, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/environmental-disaster-gold-industry-180949762/?all
Cunningham, W. P., & Cunningham, M. A. (2014). Environmental science: A global concern.Bottom of Form