The Good Guide, Making Voting with your Money Easy

The only real way that companies will change business practices to be more conscious of the environment, society, and public health is if consumers 'vote' accordingly and selectively buy only products that support practices with which they agree. Companies know this, and they know that 'going green' is a great marketing tactic to win over eco-conscience customers. But how many of the growing number of green labeled products on supermarket shelves are actually green?

While certification systems like "Cradle to Cradle," which requires in depth evidence of socially and environmentally beneficial practices, are in development, no one well recognized and respected certification is widely in use. Any product can claim to be 'green,' but this means little in practice. Which label, if any, is better, 'all natural', 'organic', 'hand made' or 'for sensitive skin'? With ingredient lists a mile long filled with unpronounceable ingredients its hard to know what to really look for. And an ingredients list doesn't give you any idea about the conditions in which the product was produced or how wasteful the process was. So what's a consumer to do?

Enter the Good Guide, an online resource to save consumers from "green wash' marketing and give simple, straightforward recommendations on the healthiest, most environmentally and socially responsible products out there. Goodguide.com is staffed by experts on environmental and labor policy, global supply chains, chemical risk assessment, life cycle assessment, environmental engineering, chemistry, nutrition, and sociology, all working together to create a comprehensive rating system that give products detailed scores on health (does the product contain ingredients with a known health concern), environment (how does the company rank in sustainability and conservation efforts), and society (working conditions and worker benefits and support of local communities). Through their website you can search or browse over 65,000 food, toys, personal care, and household products to easily learn about the best and worst products in a category. Whether you are looking for healthy, green, or socially responsible products the Good Guide makes it easy to sort and find the best product for you. Try it out, and see what's really in that bar of soap in your shower. www.goodguide.com