It’s completely true that keeping your old, unused jewelry which has no practical utility to you and is kept away gathering dust is actually harming the environment! Massive pollution and dumping of toxic waste into the environment is being carried out as you read this and all because of a golden horde being kept away from the light of day!
“Why” you may ask, and why indeed?
Mining gold, platinum and silver is an environmentally and financially, very expensive. In order to extract a single ounce of gold, some 30 tons of gold ore are required to be extracted and this may involve digging up and processing hundreds of tons of earth and rock. You can imagine the environmental impact of simply moving so much earth but there is much more to gold and precious metal extraction than simply shifting lots of earth.
Gold and silver require huge amounts of acids and highly toxic chemicals to remove them from the gold bearing ore. In addition there is a huge amount of energy expended in heating the ore which produces a molten mix and which must then be treated using chemicals such as chlorine (highly volatile and highly poisonous to every life form); cyanide (a typical by product of using acids in ore processing) and vast amounts of waste products which are highly acidic and poisonous.
The soaring demand for gold in particular, has also fuelled the continued mining of deposits which otherwise would not have been commercially viable. Ten years ago, the price of gold was around $250 but today, you will be hard pressed to find gold for less than $1,200 per ounce! In other words, gold mining operations are spreading out to other ore deposits in unspoilt environments which would never have been touched except for the high demand for gold being created.
This is where your stash of old jewelry is contributing to environmental damage – the gold has to come from somewhere given the demand and the choice is more mining or sell your old gold! Your old gold is already extracted from the ore and land, it does not need anything but a fraction of the energy and toxic ingredients to turn it from a dusty old item and into a new shining bullion bar ready for sale or use in the market.
By selling your old jewelry, you are effectively recycling a precious metal which will impose a massive environmental burden on the planet if it is to be mined. You can reduce your carbon footprint by a much higher factor than if you drive a hybrid car; insulate the loft; cancel a magazine subscription and take it by email over the internet; walk an extra 20 miles a week instead of drive or simply go without electricity at home for a whole month!
Do you now see how much your old jewelry is worth to the environment?
Your old gold, platinum and silver is also worth a huge amount to you in dollar terms. Gold prices are at an all time high and are unlikely to be seen once economic recovery commences. Gold and precious metal prices only rise to high levels in times of economic strife, and as we have experienced the worst economic depression since the Great Depression of the 1920’s, this is serving to underline the fact that never has there been a better time to sell your old items than today!
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