On the Environment
The environmental footprint of the jewellery supply chain is primarily influenced by mining and refining, processes; in retail jewellery, it's the lighting that contributes significantly to FTJCo's carbon footprint.
FTJCo has taken the following steps the reduce its environmental impact both in its product offerings and processes:
- Replaced lighting with low-energy bulbs.
- Installed a Nest thermostat to ensure our location is only heated when necessary.
- Replaced a water-based cooling system on our casting machine with a recirculating glycol cooler to reduce wastewater in our production process.
- Replaced our electrical heating system with a much more efficient natural-gas furnace.
- Encourage our staff to cycle to work by providing safe storage for their bikes while they're at work.
For our products we:
- Blend recycled gold into our mined gold to reduce the carbon footprint of the product, while still serving the social goals of the company to support small-scale miners.
- Offer lab-grown diamonds as an alternative to mined diamonds, as they are estimated to have 20% of the carbon footprint of a mined diamond.
- Reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses related to shipping by manufacturing ourselves and trying to source our materials locally.
Our Impact is measured and scored as part of our BCORP certification; you can see our most recent audit report (and prior ones) here. We take very seriously our commitment to responsible environmental practices as outlined by BCORP and the Responsible Jewellery Council. We will continuously work to minimise the environmental footprint of our own operations by seeking new ways to reduce our consumption of resources, our emissions and our waste. Further, we wish to influence and inspire our own supply chain and the entire jewellery industry to take similar measures.
All FTJCo staff are expected to:
- Exhibit environmental thoughtfulness and sound practices in daily operations.
- Share ideas and opinions regarding our environmental policy and practices.