TAKE ACTION: Ask Jewelers to Clean up Dirty Gold - For Nature and Human Rights.

October 7, 2005

Protect Nature and Human Rights

Help stop the dirty Gold

Most consumers don't know where the gold in their products comes from, or how it is mined. Gold mining is a dirty industry: it can displace communities, contaminate drinking water, hurt workers, and destroy pristine environments.

More info: http://www.nodirtygold.org/dirty_golds_impacts.cfm

TAKE ACTION TO HELP STOP THIS:

http://www.nodirtygold.org/take_action.cfm

THE IMPACT OF GOLD IN THE WORLD:

Environmental Impacts:Poisoned WatersSolid Waste Polluted AirThreatened Natural Areas Community Impacts:Endangered CommunitiesDisadvantaged WomenViolated Human RightsToll on Indigenous Peoples

Worker Impacts:A Dangerous ProfessionUndermined Workers' Rights

Economic Impacts:Economic and Financial Toll

Ask Jewelers To Clean Up Dirty Gold

October 6, 2005

In the past you have taken action to help protect and empower the world’s most vulnerable communities. We need your help again.

Please join us and take action again to support communities worldwide that endure the social and environmental impacts of gold mining. Industrial gold mining practices introduce tons of toxic waste, such as cyanide and mercury, destroying resources communities depend on for their survival—including the water they drink and fish from, as well as the land where they live and graze their animals.

In Choropampa, a small town in northern Peru, community members are still suffering from the effects of mercury poisoning five years after 330 pounds of mercury was spilled in their town and in two other nearby communities.

Gold mining doesn’t need to be this dirty.

Click here to tell Zale's and other jewelers that you care about the human rights, labor, and environmental conditions under which gold is produced. Urge jewelers to insist the mining industry make real reforms that respect local communities and the environment.

Why Jewelers?Jewelers may not operate the heavy equipment at mine sites, but where gold is concerned, they’re in the driver’s seat. Since more than 80 percent of gold mined each year is used to make jewelry, jewelers are uniquely positioned to influence the mining industry and help create real change in the way gold is mined.

Some prominent jewelers such as Tiffany & Co. have responded to requests from Oxfam campaign supporters such as yourself, and have staked out a leadership position on this important issue. But others, including Zale’s, Sterling (the parent firm of Kay Jewelers), Fortunoff, and Rolex, are lagging behind. So far, these firms have passed the buck—deferring to the jewelry trade association, which is partnering with the largest gold mining company in the world, Denver-based Newmont Mining Company, and other companies with troubled track records, to “boost consumer confidence in gold.”

Please take action to show your support for communities fighting for their rights.

Thank you.

Payal Sampat & Keith SlackCo-directors of the No Dirty Gold Campaign - A collaboration between Earthworks & Oxfam America

P.S. If you haven't already done so, please make sure you add your name to the No Dirty Gold consumer pledge (www.nodirtygold.org).