Your Natural Resources
APRIL 22 IS EARTH DAY, an annual celebration of our planet since 1970, the same year the Environmental Protection Agency was established by President Richard Nixon. Both events were outgrowths of concerns about an increasingly powerful human impact on the environment. For almost half a century, the EPA has been a lightning rod for conflicts between business development plans that could benefit many and the availability of the clean air, land, and water on which life depends. If any industry has felt the impact of environmental politics, the sprawling mix of fields that jewelry making straddles certainly has — from large-scale commercial mining operations that have fought burdensome regulations to high-end designers determined to show green-minded customers that their jewelry is earth-friendly. Jewelry making is the place where art, technology, and business…
