Costco Targeted By Facebook Bomb for Ethical Gold

If you've ever doubted that a small group of people can make a big difference, check out Costco's Facebook wall today. A group of clean gold activists bombed their wall with the message "No Dirty Gold". And this social media stunt may be enough to finally make Costco join the No Dirty Gold campaign.

Costco is one of a dwindling number of major jewelry retailers who has yet to join the No Dirty Gold campaign and make a commitment to sell gold mined without child or slave labor, environmental harm, and community displacement. In gold mining around the world, the use of child labor and dangerous pollutants is unfortunately far too common. Earthworks' No Dirty Gold campaign fights these abuses in the industry by holding retailers like Costco accountable for what goes into the products they sell. But despite receiving letters from over 27,000 Change.org and Costco members, Costco still refuses to make a company-wide commitment to ethically-sourced gold.

That's why activists are using Facebook today to let the company know clean gold is a priority. Using carefully arranged profile pictures, one group spelled out "No Dirty Gold" on Costco's wall (including an O that looks a lot like the Eye of Sauron...). And other customers are leaving messages asking for the company to sign the No Dirty Gold campaign. You can add your own message to Costco's Facebook wall here, and check out a larger image of the No Dirty Gold bomb here.

Over 70 of Costco's competitors have made the commitment to clean gold, including Target, who signed onto the campaign just days after activists bombed their Facebook wall with a similar message. Now, as jewelry-lovers around the world wait for a response from Costco, you can support them and clean gold by advocating for Costco to do the right thing and say no to dirty gold.