Gold Loving George shares his Blood Sweat and Luxuries on EcoChic Magazine

 

by Alexandra Delmage

Blood Sweat and Luxuries’ George tells EcoChic Magazine about his experience and why we should all perhaps put a little more thought into our creature comforts….

In a follow on from the hugely popular Blood Sweat and T-Shirts, the BBC’s latest instalment ‘Blood Sweat and Luxuries’ took six privileged twenty-some-things and exposed them to dirty truths behind our shiny neatly packaged luxuries. These Brits tried their hand at a bit of open pit sapphire mining in Madagascar, leather and coffee production in Ethiopia and saw face to face the devastating impacts of e-recycling and gold mining in Ghana.

Gold Loving George

BBC dubbed ‘gold loving’ George very kindly agreed to meet with EcoChic  Magazine to share his experiences on the show and some of the very moving stories behind those luxuries. Plucked from Brighton high street still clutching a collection of freshly bought trainers, George seemed like an ideal candidate, a vision of the typical young consumer, who even he himself admits, rarely took a “look past the finished shiny product”. On discussing the experience with George he agreed with me that there is an astonishing level of consumer ignorance among young consumers, one that is dangerously fuelled by the very hush hush nature of the big labels.

The series opener, where the group were put to work in an open pit sapphire mine sparks a trail of injustice. George describes a conveyor belt of people, where miners are expected to shovel earth relentlessly to reach the sapphire rich gravel. Only ever stopping for two minute breaks every forty minutes; George describes this arrangement as literally “a machine of people” all suffering back breaking work for just over a pound a day. On a visit to the polisher at the end of their trip, you soon realize the frightening discrepancy of the entire system, as a quick shape and buff boosts the profit from an £8 bit of rock to about £300. Someones getting rich and it’s certainly not the miners.

Gold Mining in Ghana, a very personal story

George tells EcoChic Magazine about gold mining in Ghana,  an experience he claims has personally affected him the most. We of course again got the opportunity to witness the Brits as they struggle to meet daunting gold mining targets, and what George describes as the most physically demanding; piling the mineral rich clay and heaving enormous head pans under a hellish 40-degree sun. Unsurprisingly there were a few grumbles amongst the group but it was certainly a genuine struggle made by all.

The two faces of Ghanaian miners, Atto and Emanuel, who George stayed with, seem to have struck a nerve. Both were young, around the same age as the Brits, both were weighed down by responsibilities seemingly unheard of for any 21 year old. Emanuel, after the death of his father, suddenly became entirely responsible for the security and well-being of 17 other family members, similarly Atto had taken on the position of head of a very large and extended family. Both these men looked tired and aged beyond their years.

As a University student here in Brighton, George described an immediate connection with Atto, who expressed a sincere wish too continue his education and go to university, his prized possessions, a pile of worn out school books of which he had carefully read every word to fully understand the meaning. If you watch the show yourself, you’ll see Atto’s own very moving account where he states quite resonantly that if given just a quarter of our opportunity he would “smash the heavens”. Unfortunately earning just three pounds a day (two thirds of which go straight into educating his younger brothers) this seems highly unlikely. This vicious cycle of poverty is echoed throughout the series.

Of course before Ghana there were still faces of people who were suffering terrible injustices, but as George relays there was often hope and a sense of looking to the future with a courageous optimism. Atto as George explains was the first person he met who retained an outlook towards his own situation of something that we might expect, sadness, hopelessness, and a world where life is not ones own to be enjoyed.

Local Communities bullied off their land

Although this didn’t get a mention on the show, George also raised the shockingly common predicament of local gold mining communities, often bullied off their land with the promise of a better future. But when you consider that the majority of the world’s precious metals and gemstones are literally cut from the earth in a way that enforces appalling working conditions for pitiful wages that are truly inadequate to serve the most basic quality of living, it’s hard to imagine any of these workers that are any better off.

George spoke of big mining companies muscling in, legitimately bullying people off their land, and mostly offering little or no compensation. Unfortunately mining companies more often than not, set up their operations with little consideration or respect of the wishes of the local communities. And it is these communities that often bear the costs of environmental damage, pollution, loss of livelihoods (the list goes on and on). So who benefits? The glories are usually snapped up by overseas investors and central government, with little to show for invaded communities.

Damaging environmental consequences

The environmental consequences of the use of lethal chemicals such as Mercury and cyanide are perhaps the most devastating. Where just a portion the size of a grain of rice can be deadly for humans, for fish cyanide ratio of one-millionth of a gram per litre can be fatal for fish, wiping out masses of marine life. Mercury and heavy metals, the by-products of mine wastes, have also been known to seep into the food chain, harming both people and wildlife. Inhabitants can do little more than watch and watch as dangerous chemicals are used so casually. Are these communities really better off with the mine there?

Being on Blood, Sweat and Luxuries has of course been quite an eye opener for George, who is now hoping to run the Brighton Marathon to raise money for Atto and his community. Unfortunately not everyone will get the opportunity to expose themselves to the harsh realities of our luxuries. The show itself of course was brilliant in that it didn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths but presented them in a way that was both vitally informative and entertaining.

As consumers, what can we do?

It’s not necessarily the case that we as consumers are all selfish and uncaring, perfectly content to sit back and watch others break their backs for pittance as long as we get our slashed price goods. Perhaps it’s more realistic to suggest that there is an overwhelming sense of consumer pessimism over what we as individuals can actually do to solve a problem that seems so incomprehensibly vast? Think about it this way, every single time you spend you are actually making an impact on the quality of someones life, be it large or small way down the supply chain if you make the right choice someone is getting a better deal. So why not make the conscious decision to make that affect a positive one? With an ever increasing number of Fair Trade products on offer we’ve been handed an opportunity to take responsibility. Trade wins over charity every time, it shows respect, avoids victimisation by treating people as equals and offers a fair price for a fair product. By putting in a little thought we get luxuries that are beautiful inside and out.

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