Why We Don't Sell Crystals

One question we often get is "Do you carry crystals?" We’ve made a conscious decision not to stock them in the shop, and because we believe in being transparent with our community, we wanted to share the reasoning behind this choice. Ultimately though, for us it comes down to a supply chain with too many gray areas.

Mining is one of the most environmentally destructive industries on the planet, and the human cost behind crystal extraction can be just as devastating, fueling worker exploitation and armed conflicts (not unlike diamond mining). 

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, children as young as 7 were discovered working in crystal mines. The Guardian published an investigation into crystal mining in Madagascar, where around 85,000 children work in mines. According to the New York Times, Myanmar’s jade industry “helped finance a bloody ethnic conflict and unleashed an epidemic of heroin use and HIV infection among the Kachin minority who work the mines” in 2014. 

Beyond the extraction itself, there are health risks during the processing phase too. Workers are frequently exposed to harmful elements like silica dust or toxic chemicals like Teflon which are sprayed on certain stones to enhance their sparkle.

There are no federal regulations in the United States for the crystal industry. Without this federal oversight, it’s up to the seller to uphold ethical standards in how they source crystals for their shops. But what does “ethical” mean in the crystal industry? Herein lies the problem, because ethical sourcing can mean anything (or nothing at all). 

There is no specific definition for what qualifies as ethically sourced when it comes to crystals. There are no certifications like leaping bunny, organic, or fair trade. It’s up to the shop owner to define what ethical means to them. 

And, more importantly, it’s up to the supplier to a) know where the crystals are coming from, and b) to be honest. Unfortunately it’s nearly impossible to verify every step of the supply chain. Are the workers involved at every step (extraction, cutting, polishing, etc.) being treated and paid fairly? Are the working conditions safe and humane? Is child labor being used? 

We do think crystals are beautiful and we know that many people choose to work with them, but we are not comfortable selling them because there are too many gray areas. Some of you may remember we actually used to sell crystal pendulums in the shop, but as we started to put this blog post together, we realized that continuing to have these pendulums wasn’t in alignment with our stated values here. 

We ended up reaching out to the maker to ask if she could create some alternative options for us, and we’re so happy to have the same beautiful pendulums as before but now without crystals! For us, perfection is not the goal, but we can always orient toward our values and change things as we go and think it’s important to talk about the ways we do that.