The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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The Girls Who Code club met together in Sierra Hall, on Friday, Sept. 15, in Northridge, Calif. Club members played around with a program to create a virtual game.
The CSUN club that’s encouraging women in STEM
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CSUN’s Girls Who Code club is just one of many across many campuses and countries, including 110 in...

Students form a crowd for DJ Mal-Ski on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Northridge, Calif.
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Ryan Romero, Sports Editor • September 21, 2023

The University Student Union hosted “Matador Nights” on Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to midnight. The...

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock by FiledIMAGE.
Women’s Soccer has Closed the Competitive Gap
Luis Silva, Reporter • September 19, 2023

There is no longer a significant competitive gap in the sport of women’s soccer. There is a brighter...

The line for concert merchandise on the second night of The Eras Tour in Paradise, Nev., on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
My experience at The Eras Tour
Miley Alfaro, Sports Reporter • September 18, 2023

It’s been a long time coming. I began watching The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift’s ongoing concert trek,...

Within the Oaxacan town of Asuncion Nochixtlan, we find my mother’s birthplace, Buena Vista. Photo taken July 29, 2023.
I Love Being Mexican
September 12, 2023
A student holds up a sign during a rally outside of the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 12, 2023.
CSU board approves tuition increase amid protests
Trisha Anas, Editor in Chief • September 15, 2023

The California State Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a 6% tuition increase for the next five...

group of mena and women touching hands
Miracles In Action Restores Patients’ Lives and Actualizes their Potential

Fair Trade goldens artisan miners

There has been reports on gold mines ruining acres of lands, habitats and places near by, like Yosemite National Park.

Ryan Taylor launched his new Atelier for the Fair Trade Jewelry Company. Michael Penney's documentary is about their trip to the Choco in Columbia and the Oro Verde fair-trade certified gold mining which supplies the FTJco with all it's gold. Credit: LexnGer/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Some of the most known gold mining companies that have been pointed at in the last decade or so have moved people from their own homes and changed lives like the ones in Guatemala where Mayan people have been forced to move elsewhere.

And, from what I have read through studies, it is not a pretty picture what happens in those places in countries like Guatemala.

As of recent time, there has been fair trade certified gold mining companies where the artisan miners mine at a smaller scale those preserving the land around and them receiving fairly wages and working conditions.

The Fairtrade Foundation has set a list of standards for these type of gold mining companies.

Then, there is the Alliance for Responsible Mining that has been working in making sure that these standards are practiced.

Some of the differences between traditional gold mining and fair trade is that 10 percent is paid more for fair trade gold.

This is huge, and if it works out to change the way gold mining companies function it would benefit miners and the land around the mines.

Bolivia is a place where the fair trade certification is one of the first in working under these conditions.

In 2010, an approximately $137.5 billion was spent in gold jewelry around the world.

There has to be some “good” in order for a good amount of that chunk of money goes to doing progressive and honest ways.

Some of the miners work under such harsh conditions using many chemicals and mercury, which it is only hazardous to them but the environment.

More info can be found here.

This is just a start, a taste of where the gold mining ways is going, hopefully in the right direction, to protect our environment but most importantly the miners and the inhabitants of those places.

Read more on Bolivian fair trade certified gold mines.

A company that carries fair trade gold.

Paying a little extra gold jewelry is worth it. It might feel gold to walk around with a ring on hand, a necklace, a pair of earrings, that all have an effect on the miners, the lands, and the way the jewelry is made.

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