Anna Maria RichardsNatural gemstones are lovely pieces everyone would love to have in their homes and wardrobes. However, with each mining procedure, environmental damage is done. Recently, technology has brought with it the ability to manufacture gemstones without mining. These gemstones are known as Lab-grown gemstones.
What Exactly Are Lab-Grown Gemstones, and How are They Made?
Lab-grown gemstones are simulated under the same temperature and pressure conditions as natural gemstones. Howbeit, in a controlled laboratory environment. These lab gemstones have identical physical, chemical, and optical characteristics to natural gemstones. The similarities of these gemstones necessitates the use of a grading certificate to tell the difference between natural and lab-created gemstones.
Over time, several lovers of gemstones have grown to prefer lab-grown gemstones to natural gemstones. You could blame this on the affordable price of ab-grown gemstones and their durability. The controlled environment in which lab-grown gemstones are created protects them from impurities and substances that could lead to inclusions. A major disadvantage of having inclusions in your gemstone is that they tend to weaken the stone. Additionally, they make these gemstones prone to breakage when not handled properly.
Another major reason lab-made gemstones are preferred is that they are eco-friendly. They do not involve mining, and they save the environment from the heavy carbon emissions and environmental destruction associated with mining.
Why Lab-Grown Gemstones are Eco-Friendly
Lab-grown gemstones are often regarded as eco-friendly because of the benefits of their production. In this segment, we will explicitly consider why lab-grown gemstones are regarded as eco-friendly.
1. Lab-Grown Gemstones Do Not Cause Destruction to the Land
Mining natural gemstones involve digging out soil and rocks to reach the earth’s crust below. Consequent to this action, excess waste, rock and soil tend to accumulate in the immediate environment of the mining site. Thus, resulting in imbalance and destruction of the land.
Unlike their natural counterparts, lab-created gemstones do not involve any form of mining. Rather, they are created in a laboratory using safe and ethical processes that do not interfere with the earth’s crust. Furthermore, the preparation of lab-grown gemstones is usually done following strict environmental regulations.
2. Lab-Grown Gemstones Save You the Stress of Air and Water Pollution
Like every other mining activity, the mining of natural gemstones releases chemicals from the earth’s crust into the atmosphere. When these chemicals are released, it leads to air and water pollution in the surrounding environment where the mining takes place. For example, a diamond mine in Angola leaked large amounts of polluted water into the Kasai River in 2021, It’s estimated that 1 million more were affected by the polluted water.
Furthermore, the hydrocarbons and electricity used in the mining process could emit greenhouse gases and carbon. Hence, leading to smog, climate change and several other unpleasant environmental occurrences.
Opting for lab-grown gemstones might save the environment all this stress. Lab-grown gemstones are eco-friendly and produced in enclosed chambers. Additionally, producing these lab gemstones produces a negligible amount of waste. These wastes from the production process are often recycled and disposed of using environmentally healthy approaches.
3. Lab-Grown Gemstones Consume Little Energy
Lab-grown gemstones are manufactured using a specimen of the gemstone seed in a carbon-rich growing chamber. Under high temperatures and pressure, the desired gemstone is formed atom-by-atom over a period of time.
The lab-grown gemstone creation method is carefully monitored to ensure that the gemstones are created in an environmentally friendly manner. Keep in mind that lab-grown gemstones also have an environmental footprint. It’s better to choose a supplier that has a transparent and sustainable supply chain, as well as an energy-efficient process. For instance, a lab-grown gemstone provider powered by renewable energy is preferable to one that relies on fossil fuels.
Aside from this, the creation of lab-grown gemstones requires little electricity. Production of lab-grown gemstones doesn’t require chemicals and harmful substances. Based on this estimation of lab-grown gemstones, they are a more eco-conscious approach to manufacturing gemstones.
4. Lab-Grown Gemstones Do Not Disrupt Natural Habitat
When gemstones are created in the laboratory, there is no interference with plants or animal habitats. All that is needed is the temperature, pressure source, and an enclosed chamber where the gemstone seed can be groomed into a larger gemstone. Since gemstones created in a laboratory do not interfere with the natural habitats of microbes, plants and animals, the ecosystem could continue unhindered. Hence, benefiting the environment.
5. Lab-Grown Gemstones are Sustainable
The demand for gemstones has continually skyrocketed over the years. Regrettably, there is a limited supply of natural gemstones to meet the surging demand. The surging demand led to a continuous increase in the prices of gemstones. Nevertheless, it has been difficult to meet up with the large population of people that require gemstones.
Lab-grown gemstones can be created at any time and in any laboratory set up to create gemstones. Consequently, increasing the production rate would make it easier to meet the demand for gemstones. Similarly, the quantity of gemstones that can be created per time is not dependent on the supply from the earth’s crust. Rather, it is based on how many gemstones a manufacturer desires to produce. Hence, making lab-grown gemstones a more sustainable and eco-friendly method of creating gemstones.
Conclusion
Yes, you love gemstones. But you need to evaluate the environmental impact of your choice. Lab-grown gemstones are an eco-friendly way of creating gemstones. They are not intrusive, they do not engage the use of harmful chemicals, and they are a more sustainable way of creating gemstones.
