WHEN YOU
LOOK
Western Bluebird
The Agate Juxtaposition
Created by Lex Jones
When you see this Lake Superior Agate, you see harmony. Or, at least, that’s what the sign says beside the agate display in the metaphysical shops across the country. The marketing is so persuasive that you choose your favorite one and pay for it at the counter. You love that it promotes balance, protection, and strength, which are qualities everyone can use more of. Like most metaphysical shop customers, you likely care for the environment and do anything you can to reverse climate change. You may love agate because it doesn’t have to be mined like other crystals, so harvesting it doesn’t upset the ecosystem. If you were educated on the processing of agate, though, you may feel differently about your decision to purchase it. Although Lake Superior Agate is one of the more environmentally friendly crystals in terms of harvesting, the processing of agate for sale still creates abundant waste materials which are harmful to the environment.
Lake Superior Agate in the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History
Agate is a unique crystal in its versatility of origin. It can be formed in sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous environments, and it can be almost any color. Agate can neither be defined as a rock or a mineral, but rather fits the obscure title of a gemstone, crystal, or mineraloid, depending on who you ask. The only thing that defines agate as agate is that it forms in the cavities of other rocks. Because it’s so diverse, each specific type of agate can have different coloration and components, and a unique origin story. In Lake Superior alone, there are 29 different types of agate! The Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History displays three of these types: eye agate, fortification agate, and geode agate. Lake Superior Agate, like a high majority of agates, was formed from the cooling of volcanic lava. As lava cools, it traps pockets of gas in it, and when these pockets fill with silica rich water and different minerals, it forms agate. Thanks to the way these agates are formed, along with the help of the recent Ice Age scraping away at the lava rock that encapsulated the agate, Lake Superior Agate doesn’t have to be mined like most crystals. As the agate separates from the lava rock, it can be simply picked up off the bottom of the lake, or even found at the shore. This makes harvesting agate not only easy, but also minimizes its harm to the environment. Taking agate from Lake Superior is not harming the lake’s ecosystem in any way, so buying raw agate does no harm to the environment. However, while simply collecting agate doesn’t do damage to the environment, processing it to sell does.
Superior Trails: Five Mile Rock Beach
Agate can be treated for sale in many ways, but each of these techniques contain the same main steps. The first step is to wash the agate. This results in wastewater that is filled with “agate fragments, oil, and surfactants” (Environmental Issues). Because it’s rarely disposed of properly, wastewater can pollute natural water sources and inherently exacerbate climate change. If the agate fragments and other contaminants can be separated from the water, they likely find themselves in landfills, which can be just as bad. The second step is to dye the agate, so that each agate that is sold is uniform in color with the others. This will create a second batch of wastewater that needs to be discarded safely (and likely won’t be). After this, a second washing of the agates is done, resulting in what is now a third batch of wastewater! The final step is to sand, polish, and trim the crystals to achieve the exact size and shape you want to sell. This step will result in more waste material, “such as agate fragments, agate sludge with oil, agate powder,” (Environmental Issues). These are all essentially variants of agate pieces that are wasted. “These fragments can exceed 50% - 60% of the raw geodes mass,” and they’re almost entirely discarded in improper ways (Environmental Issues). This results in more pollution of water and additions to landfills. Unfortunately, though, consumers are not typically educated on the effects that processing agate and other crystals has.
Agate is known for its assistance in the harmony and balance of its purchaser’s life. This is a perfect juxtaposition with the effects that purchasing agate, or any other crystal, has on the environment, which is the opposite of what the buyer is aiming to achieve. Ultimately, the processing of Lake Superior Agate to sell contributes to the climate crisis in ways that the purchaser is completely oblivious to. However, there is a harmless substitute to purchasing processed agate: because harvesting Lake Superior Agate doesn’t harm its natural environment, purchasing raw agate is a safe alternative to what is now a harmful practice.
SCIRP: Agate Sludge With Oil