Great Green Idea: Green Jewelry: Eco Wedding Rings: Starting Your New Life Green

Eco Wedding Rings: Starting Your New Life Green

A wedding is a happy occasion and exciting time for all involved in the preparation. The celebration takes on even more meaning when the couple intend to live a green way of life. They have made the decision to have a green wedding and run their household in an environmentally friendly manner. As with any couple, these couples eagerly shop for eco wedding rings to exchange during the nuptials. It is heartening to know that today they have an endless variety of resources that will allow them to find the perfect rings. There was a time when gold wedding bands were commonly chosen by engaged couples. Currently, people are choosing eco-friendly jewelry instead in order to show their support in sustaining natural resources.

Gold mining is reported to be one of the most harmful businesses to the environment. Twenty tons of mine waste is involved in producing just one gold band. For these reasons and more, people are chose green jewelry, not just for weddings, but to wear every day as well. A unique and earth friendly alternative to the gold wedding band is wooden wedding rings. These rings can be hand crafted to the couple's specifications. They are more affordable, and harvested in sustainable ways. Many couples who buy them are keeping an open mind and deciding to forsake so called tradition to help ensure the future of the earth's environmental resources.

Another alternative is to buy eco wedding rings made from post consumer metals. These rings are made from gold and silver that are recycled from various industrial sources. They are refined so the result is exactly the same composition as precious metal that has been mined.

Buying pre-owned green jewelry saves resources that would be used to make new jewelry. It also reduces the carbon footprint that results from the transport of mined jewelry. Newly married couples also enjoy the benefit of the money they have saved from buying repurposed metal jewelry, which costs fractions less than new jewelry. Among the pre-owned eco-friendly jewelry that is available, estate jewelry is sold at auctions for a fraction of its value as well.

But eco wedding rings don't have to be plain wedding bands. For brides and grooms who prefer gemstones there are several alternatives to diamonds that are mined in inhumane and planet damaging ways. For instance, cultured diamonds and other gemstones are grown under laboratory conditions in a short period of time. The diamonds are sold all over the world and are just as beautiful, if not more so, than ones mined from the earth.

The environmentalist couple does not have to sacrifice the romance of their new union. There are countless artisans, designers and retailers with enormous inventories of green jewelry from which to choose their wedding rings. The owners of these companies take a stand for fair trade, planet preservation, resource conservation and environmental protection. Couples who buy their wedding rings from these merchants take pride in knowing it is the first step to a long, happy and healthy life without compromise.