Sustainability

We say no to 'dirty gold’ because we know how destructive it can be, from ongoing labor abuses to the harmful effects of mercury and other environmental degradation.

By choosing to use repurposed precious metals instead, we avoid contributing to these harmful practices while always providing the same beautiful, lasting quality.

We refer to our precious metals as "repurposed" because gold and silver are not considered a typical waste product. Repurposed gold is defined as previously refined gold that has not come directly from a mine in its first lifecycle: this includes product manufacturing scraps and dust, post-consumer products, secondhand jewelry, investment gold and gold-bearing products that were previously sold by a refiner and then returned to reclaim their financial value. Unlike other materials that are discarded or need to be recycled, precious metals retain their value and integrity even after previous use, so "recycled" is only accurate when the precious metal is reclaimed from e-waste.

Today, 99.5% of our gold and 96.4% of our silver are repurposed.*

If our gold isn’t repurposed, it’s Fairmined.

Fairmined turns gold into good. It empowers small scale miners and encourages responsible mining to minimize environmental impact.

We're proud to be Fairmined certified since 2015. Every year, we not only increase our Fairmined gold jewelry purchases, but also provide grants through the Brilliant Earth Foundation to support these artisanal, small-scale miners in Peru's Madre de Dios region.

We were one of the first in the industry to sell lab diamonds as a mining-free alternative to natural diamonds.

We pioneered new standards to ensure our lab diamonds are even more socially and environmentally responsible: We require our lab diamond manufacturers to be audited for safe working conditions, and we continue to push them to increase their wind and solar energy use.

We offer three innovative lab grown diamond collections: the Renewable Collection, which showcases diamonds grown, cut, and polished with 100% renewable wind and solar energy; the Capture Collection, which features diamonds grown with CO2 captured before it's released into the atmosphere; and the Sustainably Rated Collection, offering lab diamonds grown, cut and polished with carbon-neutral energy.

In 2024 and 2025, we unveiled groundbreaking, limited-edition jewelry collections with iconic conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall, featuring repurposed gold and lab diamonds from our Capture Collection. Each collection was designed to celebrate and advance Dr.Goodall’s legacy, with 10% of net proceeds from the sales of the collections going to the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation Fund to help advance the conservation, research, and education initiatives she championed throughout her life.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we unveiled an exclusive lab diamond color, Pacific Green, in 2025. This never-seen-before proprietary color was developed by our world class gemologists, inspired by California’s coastal hues, and cut and polished with renewable energy.

Wasteful packaging has no place in our business, so we have spent serious time and energy making sure ours is responsible and recyclable.

Our packaging uses recycled materials made with less energy, less water, and fewer emissions. Our wood boxes use 100% FSC certified wood from responsibly managed forests. Most of our paper-based packaging uses 100% FSC Recycled paper and is recyclable. Since transitioning to 100% FSC Recycled paper in 2021, we’ve saved hundreds of tons of CO2.

We are committed to protecting the planet, so we’re leading the jewelry industry towards clean energy across our operations, including our showroom fleet.

In 2022, we reevaluated the design of our new showrooms and created our green building standard to reduce energy use. Since 2023, we have been constructing our showrooms to use less energy for lighting.

Our goal is that all Brilliant Earth showrooms across the US will use renewable energy by 2050. Learn more about our progress towards this goal.

Circularity minimizes our environmental impact by keeping precious materials in use to avoid new mining and reduce waste. We always start with this in mind and opt to use materials from responsible or repurposed sources. Then, we carefully craft those materials into high-quality jewelry made to last generations. And if it’s time for something new, you can find a new diamond with our free lifetime upgrade, and we’ll recycle or recertify your old materials so they can take a new turn in the jewelry lifecycle.