Efforts of UT student activists have led the company that produces UT's class rings to support a campaign calling for mining companies to embrace more environmentally and socially responsible techniques in their operations.
According to the Web site for the international campaign "No Dirty Gold," gold mining has been linked to environmental and human rights violations. Practices can displace indigenous communities, contaminate drinking water, harm workers and lead to environmental destruction.
UT's class rings are produced by Balfour, one of three name brands under the Austin-based Commemorative Brands Inc., which is the first class ring company to endorse the "golden rules," said Paul Bugala, Oxfam America's lead organizer of the "No Dirty Gold" campaign.
"None of this would have happened without the efforts of the Oxfam 'No Dirty Gold' chapter at UT Austin," Bugala said. "They took the ideas that we put forth and really gave them life."
The campaign, led by Oxfam America and Earthworks, was launched in February 2004, and has now gained the support of 19 jewelry retailers, including seven out of 10 of the biggest jewelers in the country, with names such as Tiffany & Co. and Wal-Mart.
The 12 basic "golden rules" of gold mining, according to the campaign, include respecting basic rights, not dumping mine wastes into water sources and covering all costs of closing down and cleaning up mine sites.
Unlike the Kimberly Process of the diamond mining industry, as of now, there is no process for jewelry retailers to determine where the gold they are buying comes from, Bugala said. Because of this, there is no way for jewelers to know under what circumstances their gold was mined.
Since 80 percent of gold goes toward making jewelry, having the support of jewelers will put pressure on gold mining companies to create a process to track where their gold comes from, Bugala said.
Matt Gase, general manager for Commemorative Brands said the company will be working with large banks that buy gold to establish a more transparent mining and distribution process.
"Our Balfour customers are high school and college students, who make up a generation that supports brands that take corporate social responsibility seriously," Gase said.
UT students began their efforts in the campaign more than a year ago by tabling on campus and creating a petition in support of the No Dirty Gold campaign. They also published opinion pieces in campus publications, said Ana Wolfowicz, history senior and vice president of Oxfam at UT.
"After Balfour representatives saw the articles, they decided they wanted to hear more about what we had to say and they started talking to Oxfam America," Wolfowicz said. "Our part was basically educating the campus and the Austin community," she said.
Oxfam UT activists are currently tabling outside of the Texas Union. They are hoping to also gain the support of Jostens, another class ring company, by sending No Dirty Gold-themed valentines.
"This taught us that nothing happens overnight," Wolfowicz said. "We're not done, we realize that we have the power to influence change, so we want to keep using that," she said.
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