Veggie Going Vegan

Wedding: Ethical Engagement Rings continue to be hot news

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:10:53 -0800

Not only do blog continue to pick up on the ethical engagement ring trend, mentioning my buddies at Brilliant Earth among others, but the media continues to be hot for the story.

I got yet another media referral from BrilliantEarth, this time about an article Glamour Magazine is working on. I provided a picture of my ring, a picture of the S.O. and I, plus my answer to the question "Why did you choose this ring and what does it mean to you?"

If they use our story it will be in the June issue.

If they don't, here's the answer I gave to the question:

"I've tried to be what I call a "conscious consumer" for the last 18 years. I try to buy organic. I try to pay attention to the politics behind my purchases. I vote at the ballot box every November, but I consider how I spend my money to be my economic vote. One of the biggest components of that is that I'm a vegetarian-turned-vegan, and even though my fiance is not a vegetarian, he has always been supportive...to the point he's agreed to a vegetarian wedding! So when we got engaged I had just started reading not only about the concept of "blood diamonds", but also about the environmental, labor and monopolistic issues around diamonds. I shared this info with my fiance, and like always he supported my decision to take a little time, research the various factors, and go for the purchase I could feel good about...for the rest of my life. Rather than boycott altogether I tried to purchase from a company that openly shared my ideals, featuring conflict-free Canadian diamonds, metals from sustainable or recycled resources, and a pledge to donate part of their profits to a fund that gives back to African communities. It meant a lot to us to have the opportunity to make such a big purchase mindfully...and I still got to have the big shiny!"

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Article: I'm quoted in L.A. Times re: my ethical engagement ring

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:33:41 -0800

Engagement Ring and Heart Shaped Candy

Wow, I've gotten more press mileage out of buying my engagement ring from Brilliant Earth! I certainly never expected that.

Here's yesterday's article in the L.A. Times.

Poor Brilliant Earth, though. Both when the SF Chronicle and the LA Times interviewed me I told stories about how great it was to find and work with Brilliant Earth. neither article even ever mentions that I was their customer. (And it was BE, by the way, who pointed the reporters in each case to me in the first place!)

At least the L.A. Times didn't go to quite as much effort to make me sound like an out-there hippy-dippy type. Here's the paragraph:

"The interest in ethical jewelry has been spurred by people like Elisa Camahort, a San Jose vegan who shops organic in food, clothing and other essentials, and writes a blog about how to be more eco-conscious. She said she was very aware of how she spent her money and didn't want to support "monopolistic" mining practices. She still wanted a diamond though.

"I'm trying to send a message to the market, rather than boycotting it overall," she said. "I want to find the ethical version.""

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Day 81: Feast-Famine-Feast

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 07:14:31 -0800

Still in DC, enjoying an unseasonably warm & lovely December (not even wearing a jacket.)

Not enjoying the food that much, mostly because i haven't ventured very far to get any.

My day started at the Open City Diner, which is kitty corner form the hotel, and has very little in the way of vegan offerings...And my day ended at Open City Diner, because that's where a blogger meet-up was scheduled. (And just as a sneak preview of today's menu, damned if I didn't end up at Open City Diner for breakfast again this morning.) Here's my tip on Open City Diner; breakfast seems great...they're not that crowded and for the non-veg*ns there's a big menu. Going there at night was not so fun. They were crowded, slow and seemed quite overwhelmed and testy about us bring them all our bloggy business. I never like a place that resents big crowds (at least of adults who order way more than a cup of coffee and a shared plate of fries between 'em.)

In between I attended a conference that lasted form 12-5PM and offered NO food. I had to leave at 2 PM to grab myself something from the hotel lobby snack shop.

Breakfast:
Half of Plain bagel
Fresh OJ
Coffee w/Soy Milk
Granola w/Soy Milk

Lunch:
Lays Chips
Fruit Cup
Naked Tropical Juice

Dinner:
Vegan Patty on 1/2 a bun, w/Pickle and Tomato
French Fries and Ketchup

PS-my day was capped off by discovering some rude guy at some rude site had some nasty things to say about the Chron article that talked about my engagement ring. Apparently I can't be socially conscious and even have an engagement ring. but calling people names? That's apprently very socially conscious. Color me cranky and trying very ahrd to rise above.

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Quick link: me talking ethical engagement rings in the Chron

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 10:42:13 -0800

There's a story in today's SF Chronicle about the upcoming movie Blood Diamond. The reporter got my name form BrilliantEarth and the article kicks off talking about me and why I sought a conflict-free diamond engagement ring. I talked to the reporter for quite some time, and I could tell I uttered one sentence that was destine to be a sound bit, namely: "If I'm going to wear something for the rest of my life, I don't want to feel a little bad every time I look at it."

As always I said way more than they could incorporate...missing altogether my concern about environmental and labor practices in favor of my concerns over the funding of violence...which makes sense given the connection to the movie.

Alo, poor Brilliant Earth got way less coverage than I, including not even printing their URL, for the record: brilliantearth.com!

They also mentioned that I was the co-founder of BlogHer, but didn't link that either, for the record: blogher.org!

Still, pretty cool.

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