Title: Flowers, Diamonds, and Gold: The destructive public health, human rights and environmental consequences of symbols of love
1Flowers, Diamonds, and Gold The destructive
public health, human rights and environmental
consequences of symbols of love
2Overview
- Flowers
- Diamonds
- Gold
- Alternatives/Solutions
3Say it with flowers
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6Flowers
- Long history of religious, folk, heraldic and
national symbolism - Gifts of love, friendship and filial devotion
- St. Valentines Day
- Mothers Day
7The Floriculture Industry
- 30 billion cut flower industry
- Major producers Holland, Columbia, Kenya,
Zimbabwe, Ecuador, India, Mexico, China, Malaysia - Worlds largest producer Dole Fresh Flowers
- Largest import markets U.S. and Germany
8The Floriculture Industry
- 190,000 workers in developing countries
- Ecuador and Columbia account for ½ of flowers
sold in U.S. - Most profit flows to large, multinational
corporations, headquartered outside producing
countries - Small amount reinvested locally
9Floriculture and Women
- Predominantly female workforce
- Low wages
- No benefits
- Short contract cycles
- Child labor, dismissal for pregnancy, unpaid
overtime common
10Floriculture and Labor
- Labor organizers harassed, workers fired for
trying to organize unions - Third party contractors shuffle workers from
plantation to plantation, avoiding payment of
social security and inhibiting union organizing
11Floriculture and the Environment
- Floriculture displaces crops grown for local food
consumption - Contributes to malnutrition and increased local
food costs - Requires large quantities of irrigation water
- Contributes to drop in water tables
12Floriculture Toxic Exposures
- Flowers most pesticide-intensive crop
- Greenhouses increase ambient levels of pesticides
- 1/5 of pesticides banned or untested in U.S.
- Carcinogens, persistent organic
pollutants/endocrine disruptors
13Floriculture Toxic Exposures
- Flowers carry up to 50X the amount of pesticides
allowed on foods - USDA inspects for pests, but not pesticides
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16Floriculture Health Effects
- Over 50 of workers have symptoms of
organophosphate pesticide exposure (cholinergic
symptoms) - Other common health problems
- Allergic reactions, heat stroke, pneumonitis,
RSI, cellulitis, UTIs, neuropathies, mental
health problems, cancers, reproductive problems
(low sperm counts, spontaneous abortions, fetal
anomalies, etc.)
17Floriculture Health Effects
- Labeling, handling, and storage problems rampant
- Protective gear often lacking, not working
- Reuse of pesticide-saturated greenhouse plastic
for domestic purposes not uncommon - Workers wash / bathe children in same sink
18Floriculture Health Effects
- Local physicians poorly-trained, lack resources
to manage pesticide-related health problems - Many providers employed by floriculture company
- Conflict of interest
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21Diamonds
- Symbols of wealth, power, love, and magical
powers - Created from carbon early in the earths history
under extreme temperature and pressure - Discovered in India around 800 B.C.
- Commercial mining began in 1866 in South Africa
22Diamond Production
- Australia, Zaire, Botswana, Russia and South
Africa major mining countries - Antwerp, Tel Aviv, New York and Mumbai (Bombay)
major trading centers - Most cutting done in Tel Aviv, Mumbai, New York
and Thailand - Major retail markets U.S. (48 of diamond
jewelry) and Japan
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26The Diamond Engagement Ring
- Diamond engagement ring introduced in 1477
(Archduke Ferdinand ? Mary of Burgundy) - De Beers Mining Company
- Founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1888
27Cecil Rhodes(Rhodesia, Rhodes Scholarship,
DeBeers Mining Company)
- We must find new lands from which we can easily
obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit
the cheap slave labour that is available from the
natives of the colonies. The colonies would also
provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods
produced in our factories.
28Diamond Rings
- 1939 DeBeers hires N.W. Ayer and Company to make
diamonds a psychological necessitythe larger
the diamond, the greater the expression of love. - By 1942, 80 of engagements in U.S. consecrated
with diamond rings (still true today) - Diamonds first worn by stars to the Oscars in 1942
29Diamond Rings
- 1947 A diamond is forever slogan born
- Jewelers instructed to tell (pressure?) men - who
buy 90 of all diamonds to spend at least 2
months salary on the ring - Later Anniversary diamonds
30Pet JewelryThe Diamond Dog Collar
31Diamond Rings
- 1999 Advertising Age magazine declares A
Diamond is Forever slogan the most effective of
the 20th Century - Recognized by 90 of Americans
- 2003 De Beers begins to market diamonds to
single women - Your left hand says we, your right hand says
me.
32Diamonds Profits and Losses
- 120 million carats rough diamonds mined for
jewelry per year weigh 24 tons, worth
approximately U.S.12 billion - 1 carat diamond retails for 350-750 in the U.S.
- Cost less than 2 billion to extract
- Ultimately sell for over 50 billion
33Diamonds Profits and Losses
- Workers desperately poor but hoping to strike it
rich in casino economy - Work under dangerous, unhealthy conditions for
pittance - Diamonds may be embedded in asbestos
- Workers suffer from cancer, leukemia, silicosis
34Diamonds Profits and Losses
- Middlemen, diamond dealers and exporters earn the
lions share of profits - Most foreign nationals
- Very little profit re-invested in local
communities
35Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism
- Mine owners violate indigenous peoples rights
via destruction of traditional homelands and
forced resettlement - Mining hastens environmental degradation of
ecosystems already under severe stress
36Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism
- Diamonds have been used by rebel armies in
Angola, Sierra Leone the Democratic Republic of
the Congo to pay for weapons used to fight brutal
civil wars - Child soldiers
- Forced labor
- Sex slavery, HIV
- Terrorize local populations (e.g., RUF in Sierra
Leone killed and mutilated thousands via
amputations with machetes and axes in 1990s)
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38Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism
- Al Qaeda and Hizbollah have used diamond monies
to - Fund terror cells
- Hide money targeted by financial institutions
- Launder profits from criminal activity
- Convert cash into a commodity that is easily
transportable and holds its value
39Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism
- Smuggled and illicit conflict diamonds may amount
to as much as 10-15 of diamond jewelry sold
worldwide - U.S. State Dept.
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43Gold
- Dominant role throughout history in the growth of
empires and the evolution of the worlds
financial institutions
44Uses of Gold
- 80-90 of gold mined today turned into jewelry
- 10-20 used by industry
- Special properties malleable, ductile, good
thermal conductivity, durable, and resistance to
corrosion - Used by Catherine de Medici as poison and by
physicians to treat rheumatoid arthritis
45History of Gold
- 4000 B.C. gold first fashioned into decorative
objects - By 1500 B.C. the standard medium of exchange for
international trade - Mid-1800s Gold rushes in California and South
Africa
46Gold Production
- Top producers South Africa, United States,
Australia, Indonesia, and China - 2500 tons mined each year
- Valued at 21 billion
- Typical piece of gold jewelry sells for at least
4 times the value of the gold itself
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48The Wedding Ring
- Formulated from a variety of minerals throughout
history - As with diamonds, aggressive marketing has played
a significant role in popularizing the gold
wedding band
49Where is the Gold?
- Currently 3 times more gold sits in bank vaults,
in jewelry boxes, and with private investors than
is identified in underground reserves - Enough gold to meet current consumer demand for
17 years
50Gold MiningThe Myth
51Gold MiningThe Reality
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59MiningThe Worlds Deadliest Industry
- Tens of thousands killed mining gold and other
minerals over the last century - 40 killed per day presently
- Union-busting / human rights abuses help maintain
cheap labor force
60MiningThe Worlds Deadliest Industry
- Local communities suffer environmental damage,
pollution, dislocations - STDs rampant, spread by miners to wives and
children - FGC
61The Resource Curse
- ½ of gold produced worldwide between 1995 and
2015 has or will come from indigenous peoples
lands - Dependence upon gold mining slows/reverses
economic growth, increases poverty, and
encourages governmental corruption
62The Resource Curse
- Benefits go to corrupt central governments and
overseas corporations - Little returned to local communities
- Casino economy
- Rural and indigenous peoples evicted without
prior consultation, meaningful compensation, or
the offer of equivalent lands elsewhere
63The Resource Curse
- ¾ of active gold mining and exploration sites
overlap with regions of high conservation value,
such as National Parks and World Heritage Sites
64U.S. Gold Mining
- Mining Law of 1872
- Archaic law
- Mine purchase price between 2.50 and 5.00 per
acre - Generous government subsidies
- Cheap fuel
- Road building and other infrastructure
- Reclamation and cleanup
65U.S. Gold Mining
- Local communities stuck with multi-million to
multi-billion dollar environmental cleanup costs
when mines declare bankruptcy or move on - Native Americans rights violated
66Gold MiningGold Cyanide Mercury
- At least 18 tons of mine waste created to obtain
the gold for a single 3 oz., 18k ring - Gold leached from ore using cyanide
- Cyanide paralyzes cellular respiration
67Gold MiningGold Cyanide Mercury
- Mercury used to capture gold particles as an
amalgam - Mercury converted to methylmercury in environment
- significant neurotoxin
- Minimata Disease
- China, Brazil
68Minimata DiseaseW Eugene Smith
69Gold MiningGold Cyanide Mercury
- 4000 tons used to purify gold during 19th-Century
Northern California Gold Rush - Fish in Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay
still show elevated levels
70Gold MiningEnvironmental Damage
- Contaminated groundwater often sits in large
toxic lakes held in place by tenuous dams - Release of cyanide and mercury into local
waterways kills fish, harms fish-eating animals,
and poisons drinking water
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73Gold MiningEnvironmental Damage
- Omai gold mine in Guyana (one of the largest
open-pit mines in the world) - Tailings dam failed in 1995
- 3 billion cubic liters of cyanide-laden tailings
renders downstream 32 miles of Omai River, home
to 23,000 people, an environmental disaster zone
74Gold MiningEnvironmental Damage
- Baia Mare gold mine in Romania
- Tailings dam broke in 2000
- 100,000 metric tons of toxic wastwater spilled
- Fish killed, other animals harmed, drinking water
of 2.5 million people in Danube River watershed - Coastal dumping of gold mine waste elsewhere
damages estuaries and coral reefs
75Gold, Mercury and Malaria
- Mercury pollution contributes to the spread of
malaria - Mercury may lower immunity to malaria
- Still pools of water serve as mosquito breeding
grounds - Migrant miners import new strains, infecting
indigenous peoples - E.g., Thousands of Yanomami Indians killed in
Brazil in late 1960s / early 1970s
76Gold Other Environmental Harms
- Gold smelting uses large amounts of energy and
releases SO2, nitrogen dioxide, and other
components of acid rain - Contributes to asthma, skin ailments
- Release of lead causes lead poisoning
77Gold Other Environmental Harms
- 40 of Western U.S. watersheds affected by gold
mining pollution - More than 25 mines (some still active) on
Superfund list - Mine pollution ruins farmlands and strains local
food resources - Water tables decline due to pumping of enormous
quantity of water to release gold from ore
78Gold Mining Harms Women
- By displacing agriculture (where women play a
major role), removes women from labor force - Concentrates economic power in hands of men
- Diminishes womens financial resources and
educational, political, and legal opportunities
79Gold Mining Harms Women
- Mining employs a few women in low-level, clerical
positions, where they face severe discrimination,
sexual harassment, and firing for pregnancy - Women have to walk further to collect water
- Utilization of child labor
80Gold Mining Human Rights Abuses
- Grassberg mine (worlds largest, owned by
U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan) - On land seized from Amunge and Komoro peoples
- Dumps tons of cyanide-laced waste into local
rivers each day - Operators implicated in forced evictions,
murders, rape, torture, extra-judicial killings,
and arbitrary detentions - Abetted by Indonesian military, which it has paid
millions of dollars
81Gold Mining Terrorism
- Echo Bay Mines Limited purportedly paid off Abu
Sayef (affiliated with Al Qaeda) in exchange for
protection of its Philippines-based gold mine
82Gold Markets vs. Morals
- Mining industry maintains strong ties with
governments to maintain status quo - 21 million political contributions in U.S.
between 1997 and 2001 - Subsidies make it cheaper to extract new gold
than to recycle existing gold
83Gold Markets vs. Morals
- U.S. government has 8,134 tons of gold secured in
vaults (worth approximately 122 billion) - Federal Reserve and other major central banks
have agreed to severely restrict sales from their
reserves, offering, in effect, a price support to
gold
84Gold Markets vs. Morals
- Gold mining supported by World Bank and its
profit-making arm, the International Finance
Corporation - Gold industry blocking International Monetary
Fund- and World Bank-sponsored debt-forgiveness
package
85Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Flowers
- Grow your own
- Purchase locally- or internationally-produced,
organically-grown, labor-friendly bouquets - Farmers markets
- Whole Foods
- http//www.proflowers.com
- http//www.organicbouquet.com
- Others
86Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Flowers
- Consumer education
- Pressure on supermarkets, florists
- Boycotts ? voluntary eco-labels in Europe
- NGOs developing industry standards
- Food First Information Action Network Flower
Campaign ? voluntary International Code of Conduct
87Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Flowers
- Veriflora Certification System
- Organic production with phaseout of pesticides
- Water conservation
- Safe waste management
- Mitigation of previous environmental damage
- Fair labor practices / fair wages / overtime pay
/ right to organize - Unannounced audits ensure compliance
88Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Flowers
- Veriflora Certification System Campaign focused
on - supermarkets (29 of U.S. flower sales, market
share increasing, 50 major companies) - Less focus currently on wholesalers (1200
nationwide) and florists (30,000, 47 of market
share) - Society of American Florists yet to endorse
89Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Diamonds
- Consider alternatives to traditional engagement
ring - Cubic zirconium
- Synthetic/cultured diamonds
- LifeGems (diamonds created from carbon captured
during cremation of human and animal remains!) - Other
90Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Diamonds
- Purchase only verifiable conflict-free diamonds
- cut, color, clarity, and conflict
- Query jewelers, consumer education, boycotts,
protests, shareholder activism
91Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Diamonds Kimberly Process Certification Scheme
- Requires rough controls to assure conflict-free
diamonds - Governments license miners
- Diamond traders utilize sealed, tamper-proof
containers - Integrated computer databases in importing and
exporting countries catch discrepancies
92Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Diamonds Kimberly Process Certification Scheme
- Importing countries enact strict customs
regulations, backed by thorough inspections and
harsh penalties - Supported by diamond industry and UN General
Assembly - Involved countries (69) slow and often
ineffective in enacting Scheme
93Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- U.S. Clean Diamond Act of 2003
- Mandates participation in Kimberly Process
Certification scheme - Money from fines (up to 10,000 for civil and
50,000 for criminal penalties) and seized
contraband earmarked for victims of armed
conflict - Implementation slow
94Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Diamond industry supports self-regulation
- Amnesty International/Global Witness 2004 survey
- 1/5 of companies responding able to provide a
meaningful account of their policies - Less than ½ of jewelry retailers able to give
consumers meaningful reassurances that diamonds
conflict-free
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96Safe Diamonds (?)
97Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Gold
- No Dirty Gold Campaign
- Halt to production and sale of gold produced at
expense of communities, workers, and the
environment - Mining companies not to operate in areas of armed
conflict - Take the pledge at http//www.nodirtygold.org
- System similar to Kimberly Process
98No Dirty Gold Campaign
- Companies pledged
- Zale Corporation
- Signet Group (parent firm of Sterling and Kay
jewelers) - Tiffany and Company
- Helzberg Diamonds
- Fortunoff
99No Dirty Gold Campaign
- Companies pledged
- Cartier
- Piaget
- Van Cleef and Arpels
- Fred Meyer Jewelers
- TurningPoint
- Michaels Jewelers
100No Dirty Gold Campaign
- Companies that have not pledged
- Rolex
- JC Penney
- Wal-Mart
- Whitehall Jewelers
- Jostens
- QVC
- Sears/Kmart
101Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Gold
- International Labor Organizations Convention
169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in
Independent Countires - Requires culturally-relevant consultation before
appropriation of indigenous peoples lands and
that indigenous peoples participate in benefits
of mining - Signed and ratified by 17 countries (but none of
major gold mining countries)
102Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Gold
- Consumer pressure, boycotts, shareholder
resolutions - Consider recycled/vintage gold, eco-friendly
gold, alternatives to traditional wedding
ring/class ring - Develop biological and chemical treatments to
decrease/destroy cyanide, mercury and other
mining contaminants
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104Safe Gold
105Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions
- Consider alternative tokens of affection
- Homemade gifts (cards, photo collages, videos,
poems, meals, home improvement projects) - Donations to charities
- Eco-jewelry made from recycled materials by
indigenous peoples - Profits returned to local communities, providing
wide-ranging social and economic benefit
106Conclusions
- Cut flowers, diamonds, and gold as symbols of
love are cultural constructs perpetuated in part
by the persuasive marketing efforts of
multinational corporations - Production involves significant damage to local
communities and the environment and harms men,
women and children
107Conclusions
- Production supports human rights abuses, armed
conflict, and even terrorism - Symbols of love should not be constant reminders
of death and destruction - Consider alternative symbols of love
- Work for social justice and change
108Paper/References
- Donohoe MT. Flowers, diamonds, and gold The
destructive human rights and environmental
consequences of symbols of love. Human Rights
Quarterly 2008 (February, in press). - http//www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
- http//www.phsj.org
- martindonohoe_at_phsj.org
109Chocolate
- Child Slavery
- Unfair Labor Practices
- Only 1 of the 13 billion U.S. chocolate market
is fair trade - Buy fair trade chocolate
- Eliminates middlemen, certified by Fairtrade
Labeling Organization International, which
conducts annual inspections for unethical
practices - E.g., Divine Chocolate, made by London-based Day
Chocolate Company