We’re overjoyed to see an ever increasing number of people advocating worthy causes online and on social media. It seems that people are inevitably more aware of issues because they now spread so much more easily, but what it’s amazing to see that people are becoming ever more comfortable to publicly endorsing and supporting issues they care about.

The most recent example of this was of course the case of Cecil the Lion who was shot by trophy hunter, Walter Palmer. We've discussed trophy hunting before on our blog and it has featured highly on our list of supported causes...

http://www.madediamonds.co.uk/luxury-with-integrity.html

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/animals/lions/projects/trophy-import-ban/

Of course the loss of Cecil was a tragedy, but the good people of the internet seem intent on ensuring he did not die in vain, by raising awareness and urging change.

Whilst it is relatively easy to show allegiance to causes with our words (and this is always better than nothing!), the next step becomes showing solidarity in your purchasing habits. How many people who tweeted and posted about Cecil did so whilst wearing a diamond ring which was obtained by destroying the habitats of desperately endangered species? Granted, awareness of all of these issues is on the rise and in the distant past it was definitely not common knowledge that diamonds caused as much damage as they do so we must forgive anyone who participated in the diamond market before knowing of the disgraceful truth.

However, our point here is that so many of those who showed allegiance with Cecil, and so many other great causes, would not think twice about purchasing, receiving or wearing a natural diamond, even though they very well know of the dark side of diamonds (really, who doesn't know nowadays?). To many this would be an inconvenient truth swept under the carpet in a bluster of romance, and the painful reality would remain an unspoken truth.

We must be clear, we love the new trend towards more people openly supporting incredible causes using social media, but it really is just paying lip service to the causes if your values and your beliefs aren't reflected in your actions. 

Thankfully an ever growing number of people (however a minuscule percentage of the whole) are not only becoming aware of issues and sharing them, but they are proudly living up to their values by opting for a more ethical diamond engagement ring, rather than endorsing the diamond industry responsible for unimaginably more harm than one dentist from Minnesota.