Please read this important story written by Elizabeth Grossman, author and journalist. It is truly tragic. This is another reason to buy second-hand jewelry.
How a Gold Mining Boom is Killing the Children of Nigeria by Elizabeth Grossman.
Be Green: Ban the Penny?
May 28, 2010 by 1 Comment
It sounds mean doesn’t it? Banning the penny seem so Scrooge-like, but after reading the statistics on how much this single cent coin is costing us, it seems like the prudent thing to do. According to the website for Ban the Penny, Green Education states:
“The One-cent Coin Costs 1.26 Cents to Make, Wasting Resources, Costing Taxpayers Millions! It costs more than one cent in energy, metal and labor to mine and process the ores, combine the metals, and then produce and transport a penny. CNN.com and the U.S. Mint reported in December of 2008 that a penny with an assigned value of $0.01 actually cost $0.0126 to make. Over 7 billion pennies and 1 billion nickels were produced in 2007. The cost of producing them rises with the cost of energy and the metals used. Congressman Luis Gutierrez, whose House subcommittee oversees the U.S. Mint, said that producing the coins adds to our national debt and set the U.S. Treasury and taxpayers back about $100 million in 2007 alone.”
That is a powerful argument to stop penny production. We can’t be sentimental about this. Mining is a very damaging process; there is always an environmental impact. To keep mining, and losing money on the penny, just doesn’t make sense anymore. I hope some of you will take advantage of this chance to raise money for your schools, save the American people money, and make an environmental impact. Pass this along to your local schools or bring it to the attention of your local PTO.
