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Winter 2006-2007
Welcome to the Winter 2006-2007 No Dirty Gold campaign update.
Oxfam America and EARTHWORKS distribute this periodic bulletin to update No Dirty Gold campaign members on the campaign's progress and the opportunities to get more involved.
In This Issue
LEAD STORY:
NO DIRTY GOLD CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY:
Lead Story
More Retailers Endorse Golden Rules, Support Cleaner Gold Mining
21 companies representing about $12 billion in retail jewelry sales -- or 22 percent of the US jewelry market -- have now endorsed the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules, criteria for more socially and environmentally responsible mining. Thanks for all your help in making this happen.
In February, we added 11 new jewelry retailers to our "leaders" list. They are: Fred Meyer and Littman Jewelers, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Wal-Mart, QVC, Birks & Mayors, Commemorative Brands (parent company of Balfour, ArtCarved, and Keystone class rings brands), Brilliant Earth, Leber Jeweler, TurningPoint, Boscov's and Michaels Jewelers.
Following the campaign's February announcement, class rings company Jostens and national jewelry retailer Whitehall Jewellers also stepped up to endorse the Golden Rules.
These companies are sending a strong signal to the mining industry that there is a demand for more responsibly produced gold from the jewelry sector. Jonathan Bridge, the co-CEO of Seattle-based Ben Bridge Jeweler, calls it "the 'right thing to do' for our community, our customers as well as the world environment." Retailers, mining companies, and NGOs are now engaged in the Initiative for Responsible Mining (IRMA), which will seek to establish social, environmental, and human rights standards for mining operations, as well as a system to independently verify compliance with those standards.
Learn More: Read what other jewelers are saying about why they support the Golden Rules --
www.nodirtygold.org/retailer_statements.cfm
No Dirty Gold Campaign Activity
Target's Gold Policy is Off the Mark
The No Dirty Gold campaign has been in dialogue with the Target Corporation since 2005, a year after we first approached the company seeking a commitment to more responsible gold sourcing.
Despite our best efforts, Target refuses to formally endorse the Golden Rules. As a result, the company has been added to our "laggards" list.
More than 15,000 people sent faxes to Target CEO Robert Ulrich the week before Valentine's Day. That same week, hundreds of you picked up the phone and called Target stores around the country asking the company to do what other leading retailers have already done -- endorse the Golden Rules. And, dozens of NDG activists at ten schools including the University of Texas at Austin, University of South Florida and George Washington University sent handmade valentines to Robert Ulrich.
As a result of these actions, Target issued a statement acknowledging the importance of issues related to jewelry sourcing and production. But the company still has not taken the important step of endorsing specific criteria for responsible sourcing, as other retailers have done.
We urge you to continue to tell Target to step up to the plate and sign the Golden Rules.
TAKE ACTION!: target.nodirtygold.org.
Student Activists Hail Victory in Class Rings Campaign
NDG student activists celebrated a huge victory for the Class Rings Campaign in February when Commemorative Brands and Jostens endorsed the Golden Rules. Together these two companies account for about 80 percent of the $700 million class rings market.
Commemorative Brands, maker of ArtCarved, Balfour, and Keystone class rings brands, became the first class rings company to endorse the Golden Rules. Student concerns about the environment and human rights were central to the company's decision to do so. The company produced a short film in which Commemorative Brands' General Manager Matt Gase describes the powerful role jewelry retailers can play in making gold mining more responsible. Watch the clip.
Susy Reyes of UT Austin sent a valentine
asking Jostens to sign the Golden Rules.
Jostens must heart Susy, because they
signed a few weeks later. |
A few weeks later, Jostens, the largest class rings vendor, followed suit and endorsed the Golden Rules. Congratulations to all the NDG student activists who made these victories possible through their hard work over the past three years.
NDG campus chapters at the University of Texas and the University of South Florida were featured in news stories in The Daily Texan and The Oracle.
NDG Partner Organization in Peru Under Threat
In recent months, several members of the Peruvian organization GRUFIDES, including its president, Father Marco Arana, and its executive director, Dr. Mirtha Vasquez Chuquilin, have been targeted with death threats, defamation, and surveillance at home and at work.
Mirtha Vasquez |
GRUFIDES (El Grupo de Formación e Intervención para el Desarrollo Sostenible) is a human rights and environmental organization that works with communities impacted by mining in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru to the site of Newmont Mining's massive Yanacocha mine. There is strong opposition to the mine's expansion. Residents have held several large protests to voice their concerns about the mine's impact on the environment and local water resources.
No Dirty Gold is asking Newmont Mining to publicly condemn the intimidation of mining activists and ensure that none of its employees are engaged in activities that violate human rights or contribute to violence and repression.
If you haven't already done so, please take action and ask your friends to do the same.
TAKE ACTION!: help.nodirtygold.org
NDG in the News
- On February 13th, CBS Broadcasting featured No Dirty Gold in a news story about Valentine's Day jewelry shopping and efforts to clean up dirty gold. The 90 second news clip aired in media markets around the country, including the San Francisco Bay Area and L.A., and also features Mike Kowalski, the CEO of Tiffany & Co., explaining the importance of No Dirty Gold's principles for responsible mining.
Watch the clip:
http://cbs5.com/consumer/local_story_044151846.html
- In Canada, CTV News ran a national story on February 8th featuring Canadian luxury jeweler Birks & Mayors, which simultaneously signed the Golden Rules and the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, an effort to protect Canada's vast boreal forest from irresponsible gold and diamond mining.
Watch the clip:
http://tinyurl.com/3bdl5j
- Read more press coverage about the campaign:
http://www.nodirtygold.org/NDGitn.cfm
About EARTHWORKS
We work with local organizations and communities around the world on issues related to mining, human rights, and the environment. To learn the objectives of the No Dirty Gold campaign, please visit our website at www.nodirtygold.org, and download our report Dirty Metals: Mining, Communities, and the Environment.
Many thanks for your support! Please send in your suggestions or comments to info@nodirtygold.org. | 
