What makes Lab-Grown Diamond Sustainable?
Lab-grown diamonds are making headlines recently, as a new way to get high-quality affordable gems while also helping customers stay ethical and green in their shopping choices.
But what makes lab-grown diamonds sustainable? How are lab-grown diamonds different from normal diamonds? Where can you find lab-grown diamond jewelry? This blog answers these questions and looks at the pros and cons of these new gems.
What is Sustainability and how can development be sustainable?
In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
On the other hand, unsustainable development occurs when the development is done at the expense of future generations’ needs. Unsustainable practices have been damaging the fragile ecosystem of the Earth for centuries now. And because of the earth-harming practices, our present, and other future generations are facing the danger of extreme climate events.
More and more people are beginning to understand the importance of sustainable products when it comes to diamonds. With this growing demand and awareness, there is a new product that is being offered, Lab-grown diamonds.
How are lab-grown diamonds paving way for sustainability?
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Lab-grown diamonds have a clean source of origin.
Lab-grown diamonds are also called sustainable or eco-friendly diamonds. They are manufactured in a laboratory by creating optimum diamond-producing conditions. Just like natural diamonds, they are subjected to high temperature and high pressure that triggers the transformation of seed(derived from a diamond) into a full-fledged diamond with exact physical, chemical, and optical properties as a mined natural diamond.
As these engineered diamonds have a sustainable source of origin, their journey and purpose of production are also different and shorter, respectively than that of mined diamonds.
2. Lab-grown diamonds have fewer and cleaner production channels
Also known by the name man-made diamonds, they are a real and viable alternative to mined diamonds. They can be mined, grown, and processed in a cleaner lab environment using less capital and with a smaller carbon footprint. Their supply chain is devoid of exploitation of land resources.
On the other hand, the sourcing and production channels for naturally mined diamonds are often kept opaque. This makes it difficult to judge whether their origin is ethical or not.
3. Lab-created diamonds do not cause destruction to the Earth
It is evident that the lab-created diamonds do not cause destruction to the Earth, as they are not dug out or mined from the Earth. Instead, they are grown with advanced technological processes in laboratories.
In natural diamond mines, mountains of the earth are dug out, communities are displaced and nearby natural sources are left polluted to dig out a single diamond.
4. Lab-created diamonds consume little energy and give a higher yield
Mining and processing ore to extract minerals is an energy-intensive process. With the use of heavy machinery, energy usage is enormous. The process of 'growing' diamonds in a lab is completely different from that of mining.
Diamonds are grown by placing carbon atoms(seeds) in a microwave chamber in a laboratory. The chamber is then bombarded with a mixture of gases at a high temperature. This makes the carbon atoms vibrate in a highly-energetic manner. These vibrations eventually form a diamond and give a higher yield than mined diamonds.
This makes the process greener than the diamond mining process.
While lab-grown diamonds are still relatively new in the market, they are already making a huge impact because of their numerous advantages over mined diamonds. They are a new way to get high-quality gems while also helping people choose ethics and green. If you would like to learn more about lab-grown diamonds and how they can benefit your jewelry collection, please visit Syndiora.com