Podcast appearances and mentions of marc choyt

[Rough Transcript of this week's episode] Welcome to Business with Purpose - I am your host, Molly Stillman of stillbeingmolly.com and this show is all about bringing you the stories behind the brands, companies, and small businesses that are changing the world. Each week I interview an entrepreneur, a CEO, non-profit director, community leader, or just all-around amazing person who is trying to make a positive impact not only through their personal life, but also with their career. My goal is to show you that no matter what you do for a living, you can make an impact right where you are… This is episode 180 which means it is time for another SOLO episode! I love connecting with you in a little bit of a different way during these solo episodes to either answer a burning question that you have, talking about a timely topic, or educating you on something that I think might be helpful… So this week, I am doing a little combination of answering a frequently asked question and doing a little education. One question I have received often is, “There are so many buzzwords and phrases thrown around like “ethical fashion” “fair trade” “conscious consumerism” “social enterprise” etc….. WHAT DO THEY ALL MEAN? What is the difference? So today, I am going to be like your own personal Webster’s Dictionary: ethical edition and share some of the terminologies with you that you might hear on this podcast or out in the world and what it is they mean! A couple of things I wanted to share with you before we go over the terms and definitions… After over 3.5 years of doing this podcast, I continue to be blown away by your encouragement and support. I know I can talk all day about this show, but I wanted you the listener to hear from FELLOW LISTENERS on which episode is THEIR favorite and why they love the show… so here are a few: [TUNE IN TO LISTEN TO THE LISTENER TESTIMONIALS!] What Does "Conscious Consumerism Mean?" and More... All your ethical terminologies explained! Conscious consumerism Conscious consumerism is a way of saying that we are able to retain the awareness of our purchasing power no matter what is going on in the world around us. ... The conscious consumer is one that seeks out ways to make positive decisions on what they buy, and solutions to the negative impacts caused by consumerism. Fair trade vs. fairtrade When used as "fair trade," as two words rather than one, this refers to the general movement advocating for trade on fair terms for the environment and people involved. However, the largest and most globally recognized fair trade organization is Fairtrade International, the umbrella organization of the international system that our partner Fairtrade America belongs to. Listen to episode Episode 139 with Marc Choyt - right around the 31:50 mark we talk briefly about this! Ethically made / ethical fashion Ethical fashion is an umbrella term that includes fashion design, production, retail, and purchasing. The exact definition is vague but overall ethical fashion is understood to indicate an active approach to creating goods that positively impact the environment and the lives of those making them, reducing poverty through non-exploitative (fair pay, good conditions) employment. In reality, it’s virtually impossible for a brand creating new products from new materials to ever be completely ethical as it just does not positively impact the environment. It is, however, a good reference point for brands to have in an attempt to better their production practices. Zero wasteZero Waste is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused.  Social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being—this may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Slow fashion As you would expect, slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion. It’s about rejecting consumeristic impulses and embracing a slower, more mindful model of consumerism. While this doesn’t eradicate shopping entirely, it refers to only buying things you actually need and items of quality that will last. Circular fashion Circular fashion refers to the entire lifecycle of a product and centers on a circle of create, use, recycle, rather than create, use, dispose. It looks at products beyond their original function and timespan and focuses on how their materials can be consistently utilized and repurposed. Circular fashion takes in to consideration everything including the design, sourcing, transportation, storage, marketing, sale and disposal of the product. Closed loop In fashion it means that all new clothes are made from preexisting clothes and textiles, The Guardian explains. Once an item has fulfilled its use, it can be broken down through an environmentally sound process and turned back into yarn/fabric and then recycled into another garment. This forms a “closed loop” in that an item would have an eternal life cycle and therefore eliminate waste. Cruelty free Cruelty-free means that companies did not test ingredients or products on animals during the production phase. Cruelty-free, therefore, also means that no animals were killed or harmed anywhere in the world during production. Items that meet this standard normally carry a heart symbol. Cruelty-free does not mean, however, that animal ingredients are avoided. Eco friendly Eco-friendly, like sustainability, is an all encompassing term that takes many factors into account. “Eco” is short for ecology, the study of interaction between organisms and the environment. Therefore, eco-friendly is about minimizing anything that would negatively affect that balance.  Fast fashion Fast fashion is the term used to describe clothing that is produced quickly and cheaply. Brands and retailers that engage in fast fashion often create products based on seasonal trends directly inspired by the runway. Fast fashion brands are generally associated with overproduction, low retail prices, mass waste, poor working conditions, and negative environmental impact. FSC certified If an item is FSC-certified it means that the fabric is made from tree fibers that come from sustainable sources in that they do not originate from endangered or ancient forests. TENCEL and MONOCEL products, for example, are often made from FSC certified eucalyptus and bamboo. Living wage Paying someone a living wage is to pay workers from all aspects of the production process a fair salary so they are not trapped in poverty. A living wage varies greatly from country to country and that is also taken into consideration. Organic Standards differ as to what “organic” means from country to country but generally speaking, organic fashion refers to the materials used and how they’re grown. Basically this means that the materials are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), sewage sludge, ionizing radiation, or other chemicals. Social responsibility Social responsibility means that a company adheres to a business framework that values people and the planet as well as profit. It’s about benefiting local communities and their environment. Unfortunately, brands claiming social responsibility can’t always be taken at face value. This term is often used in greenwashing. WRAP certified Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), formerly Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production, is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to promoting safe, lawful, humane and ethical manufacturing around the world through certification and education. The WRAP certification program mainly focuses on the apparel, footwear and sewn products sectors. Certified B CorpB Corporation certification is a private certification issued to for-profit companies by B Lab, a global nonprofit organization with offices in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a partnership in Latin America with Sistema B. To be granted and to preserve certification, companies must receive a minimum score on an online assessment for "social and environmental performance." Okay! That’s it! I hope this was helpful to you! And remember, if you have ANY questions at all, you can email me - hello@stillbeingmolly.com or find me on social media - @stillbeingmolly or @businesswithpurposepodcast. And if you share the show on social media, you can use the hashtag, #businesswithpurposepodcast. Be sure to head on over to iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Radio Public, or wherever you listen to podcasts and make sure you are SUBSCRIBED to the show. Clicking that subscribe button helps ensure that you NEVER miss a new episode of the podcast! And while you are there, would you mind taking a moment to leave a review of the show? Leaving a review of the show helps me to know what you are liking and how this show is personally impacting you. This show is edited by my amazing husband and “executive producer" John Stillman and the music is by Marc Killian of Third Wheel Media. Thank you SO much for listening and go do something good with purpose on purpose!

Ethical issues surrounding the jewelry industry are often vague and misunderstood. Movies like Blood Diamond examine these problems, but we need to go deeper to fully understand the ethical issues surrounding gold and diamond purchases. Marc Choyt is the president of Reflective Jewelry. He joins us to answer all of your questions on ethical jewelry and show you how your jewelry purchases impact lives around the world. Things You Don't Want To Miss: Meet Today's Guest 1:25 - Marc Choyt is the president of Reflective Jewelry, the first and only Fairtrade certified gold jewelry in the United States. He initiated the first ethical jewelry blog in 2006 which eventually evolved into Fair Jewelry Action, a human rights and environmental justice network. The Marc 101 3:20 - Marc's wife was a self-taught jeweler. In 1995, he started driving around the country and trying to sell her handiwork. At the time, he was also funding ecological preservation, and an epiphany in his preservation efforts gave him new awareness to the ecological harm brought about by gold mining in other areas of the world. He wants the sourcing of his material to match the symbolism behind his jewelry. A Lack Of Information   6:20 - The average consumer doesn't know much about the sourcing of gold and gemstones. We've heard about conflict diamonds, but that's about it. Marc explains the narrowness of the definition given to conflict diamonds. 9:10 - In the 80s and 90s, millions of people were killed in wars funded by diamonds. However, nobody has been held accountable for the decisions to fund those wars. 10:25 - Marc explains the issues surrounding the term "conflict free." Where Are Gold And Diamonds Sourced? 13:09 - Marc explains the difference in large and small-scale mining. Basically, 80 percent of the gold supply chain comes from large-scale mining operations. However, small-scale mining operations involve 90 percent of gold labor, and small-scale mining operations are often dangerous and exploitive. 16:36 - Gold comes from veins running under the earth as well as on the surface. It runs in all kinds of situations. 17:39 - Diamonds aren't as widely concentrated as gold. Diamond resources tend to come from Canada, Russia, and South Africa. Asking Questions Leads To Change 20:08 - "Mine Your Own Gemstone" shops are prevalent tourist locations, especially in the mountains of North Carolina. The idea is you get a bucket of dirt, and you sift through the mud to look for stones. These businesses claim these stones are locally sourced, and many times they are. However, you need to know where your materials are coming from. Asking questions leads to change. Question Your Jewelers 23:08 - Different mining operations involve different levels of toxicity. Some operations are relatively harmless, but others involve dangerous levels of mercury. 24:00 - Ask your jewelers where their resources are coming from. The term "conflict free" is misleading, and it only scratches the surface of the issues surrounding gold and diamond mining. 26:45 - We need to focus our energy on change that impacts the small-scale miner. Certain purchases don't actually make a difference, and we need to focus on impacting the lives of small-scale miners. Fair Trade Versus Fairtrade 31:50 - "Fair Trade" refers to the broader movement where organizations source products from artisan communities. The idea is that your business or organization is directly connected to the community, and therefore, your customers' purchases directly impact the lives of those who are making them. 33:09 - The term "Fairtrade" is trademarked by an organization out of Bonn, Germany. It's called Fairtrade International, and the organization conducts audits and provides certifications to small-scale gold mining operations. The organization ensures companies are upheld to a high standard of ethical practices. 34:52 - If you're a jeweler working with metals and gems, you need to begin the process of determining where your source material is being produced. The Problem With Purchasing Lab Created Diamonds   38:00 - The lab created diamond industry is up-and-coming. Millennials especially like them because they typically cost a fraction of the price of dug diamonds. However, buying lab created diamonds doesn't address the issues associated with small-scale diamond producers. Start Small  45:30 - Whenever we talk about shopping ethically, listeners tend to get overwhelmed. After all, it's a tricky task to totally overhaul your lifestyle and buying habits. Remember, change starts with baby steps. You don't have to completely revamp your wardrobe overnight. Instead, slowly change your buying habits. Find one ethically-made product you like, and start there. Think of it like a diet. You don't get in shape overnight. It takes time, and you have to be patient as you're going through the process. A Change Of Heart  49:00 - The process of pursuing social justice starts with aligning your heartfelt values with economic decisions. It's not always easy to do that, and it requires you ask questions along the way. A Memorable Moment: "This process is about aligning our heartfelt values with our economic decisions." - Marc Choyt To visit the Business With Purpose website, click the link:

In this episode Tasha Simms and Marc L Caron speak with Marc Choyt, a jeweler/activist since 1995. Every time he hears the term “conflict free diamonds,” the keystone in the marketing of engagement rings, it reminds him that African lives don’t matter. Ethical jewelry at its worst is hiding crimes in plain sight. At its best, […] The post Ethical Jewelry: Diamonds, Gold and Conscious Choice appeared first on Conscious Living Radio.

Have you ever thought about where your jewellery came from? Maybe from one of the big name classics, maybe from the local hand made jeweller at the markets. Have you ever thought about whether THEY know where their materials come from? Unfortunately “shiny and sparkly” are words that don’t come to mind when I chat to today’s guest, Marc Choy, the only ethical, fairtrade gold jeweller in the USA and president of the Fair Jewellery Action Group. He wrote an expose called: Ethical Jewelry Expose: Lies, Damn Lies and Conflict Free Diamonds that we found when we were wanting to do a show on Jewellery and it is seriously confronting to learn that “Conflict free” doesn’t, unfortunately, mean all that it conjures. Please don’t feel riddled with guilt for what you didn’t know yesterday, once you listen to today’s show. Feel excited about what you’re going to change from now and I’ve challenged us all to find ethical, fairtrade jewellers in our local area and share them as resources for the community in today’s show notes. Enjoy the show and as always, all further resources are in today’s show notes over at lowtoxlife.com/podcast And here are the questions I asked Marc: Your journey into discovering that jewellery wasn't all that glitters and had a very dark side. Were you already conscious of food system injustice / environmental toxins or was this your gateway into conscious, aware choices. Share how you and your wife made the foray into ethical jewellery? From what I understand there are a few factors at play in jewellery - It's not just the fairtrade aspects of the workforce / small scale miners it's also mining methods and processing that can be very high tox... other factors? Let's start with diamonds (I too want to share a personal story about the effects of the film Blood Diamond) - What do we need to be aware of in terms of where we've come from in the history of diamond mining and trade? And gold - I've heard you talk about how it can be a toxic process - can you talk us through it? *Let's add in anything else about the process of procurement here before continuing. Can discuss before we hit record* So how did you go about becoming certified fairtrade - ONLY fairtrade certified gold jeweller in the USA might I add? What challenges did you run into as you went about establishing the supply chain? How can we be better at sourcing jewellery / good questions we can ask when we're in a jewellery shop so that we start to raise awareness and let jewellers everywhere know that we want to know we're not hurting people/planet with our jewellery choices? Are there any 'greenwash' labels/associations used in Jewellery that are similar to "All natural" and "Sustainable Palm" labels that often are quite far from what they sound like in fairness and toxicity? And if we have time I'd love to chat about your work with Native Americans and what we can all learn from their cultural, spiritual wisdom and bring into our modern lives?

It's Thanksgiving and that means it's Thankscycling time! The Earth911 team gathers around the table to enjoy a sustainable family day of simple swaps for a healthy Thanksgiving.Sarah Lozanova explains seven Thank-worthy DIY decorations and Trey Granger explains how to recycle cooking oil. Evelyn Fielding-Lopez talks 12 ideas to reduce or eliminate food waste on Thanksgiving, and Mitch Ratcliffe explores his memories of deep-fried Turkey. We also discuss recent Earthling surveys and new innovator interviews with Chris Wilke of Puget Sound Keepers, who are fighting for better regulation of cattle-feeding operations in Washington state, and Marc Choyt of Reflective Jewelry, a pioneer of the fair trade jewelry industry. And, as always, we have Earthling questions and answers. This week, we look at recycling hair and waxed cardboard boxes.

It's Thanksgiving and that means it's Thankscycling time! The Earth911 team gathers around the table to enjoy a sustainable family day of simple swaps for a healthy Thanksgiving.Sarah Lozanova explains seven Thank-worthy DIY decorations and Trey Granger explains how to recycle cooking oil. Evelyn Fielding-Lopez talks 12 ideas to reduce or eliminate food waste on Thanksgiving, and Mitch Ratcliffe explores his memories of deep-fried Turkey. We also discuss recent Earthling surveys and new innovator interviews with Chris Wilke of Puget Sound Keepers, who are fighting for better regulation of cattle-feeding operations in Washington state, and Marc Choyt of Reflective Jewelry, a pioneer of the fair trade jewelry industry. And, as always, we have Earthling questions and answers. This week, we look at recycling hair and waxed cardboard boxes.

Marc Choyt, the founder of Reflective Jewelry, talks with Earth911 about fair trade jewelry. He recently published an extensive and critical expose on the ethical jewelry business. Sustainable and humane metal and gem mining has caught on in Europe, notably in the U.K, but has been slow to establish itself in the United States. Learn what questions to ask when buying precious metal, diamonds, and other gems to ensure that the people who produce the raw materials are able to lead safe and increasingly prosperous lives. Choyt explains the persistent presence of diamonds and gems produced under slavery conditions in war zones. If you are interested in making your jewelry a statement about your values, learn what to look for when shopping. Seeking out fair trade gold helps families and small communities while industrial gold mining is a source of mercury pollution and causes environmental damage.

Marc Choyt, the founder of Reflective Jewelry, talks with Earth911 about fair trade jewelry. He recently published an extensive and critical expose on the ethical jewelry business. Sustainable and humane metal and gem mining has caught on in Europe, notably in the U.K, but has been slow to establish itself in the United States. Learn what questions to ask when buying precious metal, diamonds, and other gems to ensure that the people who produce the raw materials are able to lead safe and increasingly prosperous lives. Choyt explains the persistent presence of diamonds and gems produced under slavery conditions in war zones. If you are interested in making your jewelry a statement about your values, learn what to look for when shopping. Seeking out fair trade gold helps families and small communities while industrial gold mining is a source of mercury pollution and causes environmental damage.

Our guest this week is Marc Choyt.  Marc is the co-Founder of Reflective Jewelry and one of the leading activists for fair trade jewelry in North America. Marc works on marketing and publicity for the company (like the websites), strategic planning, and the like.  He also focuses on their supply chain, seeking ways to create jewelry that has exceptional environmental and ethical sourcing standards. Marc is also the author of The Ethical Jewelry Exposé, a new guide that explores the history of misrepresentations in the jewelry industry that seeks to hide the fact that millions of people have died in conflicts financed by precious gems and metals and great environmental and social harm continues to happen despite the narrative mainstream jewelers branding themselves as "ethical" and "responsible". . Thanks for listening!  And if you'd like to be part of a dynamic social impact entrepreneur community, check out the Awarepreneurs Community.

Our guest on Metalsmith Benchtalk on Thursday, November 5th, 2015 at 3:00 pm PST is Marc Choyt, president of Reflective Images Jewelry and the first licensed Fairtrade jeweler in America! If you have a question for our guest, please log onto the chatroom at Blogtalkradio.com or send a message to Whaley Studios via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. For the past ten years Marc has taken action against dirty gold and the blood diamond atrocity. He began writing, speaking and campaigning about ethical sourcing jewelry issues. This lead to the co-founding of Fair Jewelry Action in 2009. Reflective Images also began to introduce the option of Fairtrade gold into their work in 2011.In April 2015, after ten years as ethical sourcing pioneers, Reflective Images Jewelry became the first licensed Fairtrade Jeweler in the USA. Marc worked hard with Fair Trade International to bring this about, and he continues to guide Fair Trades' launch in the US market as their main commercial liaison: providing critical contacts to main suppliers and laying the groundwork for more jewelers to enter the system. Since 1995, under Helen's creative direction, Reflective Images continues to craft jewelry that brings benefit and beauty to the world.Website 

Our guest on Metalsmith Benchtalk on Thursday, November 5th, 2015 at 3:00 pm PST is Marc Choyt, president of Reflective Images Jewelry and the first licensed Fairtrade jeweler in America! If you have a question for our guest, please log onto the chatroom at Blogtalkradio.com or send a message to Whaley Studios via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. For the past ten years Marc has taken action against dirty gold and the blood diamond atrocity. He began writing, speaking and campaigning about ethical sourcing jewelry issues. This lead to the co-founding of Fair Jewelry Action in 2009. Reflective Images also began to introduce the option of Fairtrade gold into their work in 2011.In April 2015, after ten years as ethical sourcing pioneers, Reflective Images Jewelry became the first licensed Fairtrade Jeweler in the USA. Marc worked hard with Fair Trade International to bring this about, and he continues to guide Fair Trades' launch in the US market as their main commercial liaison: providing critical contacts to main suppliers and laying the groundwork for more jewelers to enter the system. Since 1995, under Helen's creative direction, Reflective Images continues to craft jewelry that brings benefit and beauty to the world.Website