Why lab-made gems might not be an ethical alternative

Tess McClure with The Guardian examines why switching to synthetic gems may have environmental upsides, but could harm the same communities that consumers worry about. She quotes Pact's Cristina Villegas, Director of the Mines to Markets program.

“They’re framing it in terms of ‘this is an ethical decision’ when in my opinion it’s the complete opposite,” says Cristina Villegas, mining director of development nonprofit Pact. “It’s just completely walking away from the social aspects of sustainability.”

Villegas works with small mining communities internationally. “When you walk away, prices drop, you’re abandoning whole communities,” she says.