Eco-Conscious Consumerism

 As the holiday season approaches, you may be wondering, "How I can be eco-conscious about my shopping?" To help you answer this question we have gathered a few websites that rank companies and brands according their impact on the environment. These sites allow you to compare competing brands and make eco-friendly purchases.

• GoodGuide – GoodGuide rates products on their health, environmental and social impact. This site provides you with the top and bottom rated brands in numerous categories, as well as allowing you to search for specific products. You can customize product recommendations by filtering how products perform according to what values are most important to you. GoodGuide also offers a transparency toolbar that allows you to see ratings for products while online shopping and a mobile app that allows you to scan a barcode and learn about a product while in the store.

• Better World Shopper – This website ranks products and companies on their social and environmental responsibility. Products are ranked within 75 different categories ranging from airlines to chips, cosmetics, supermarkets, and toilet paper.

• ClimateCounts.org – This website scores companies on their efforts to address climate change, including whether they measure their climate footprint, have reduced their impact on the environment, and publically disclosed their climate actions.  Companies are ranked within sectors ranging from toys and children’s equipment to food products and hotels.

• Newsweek’s Green Rankings 2011 – Newsweek has ranked the top 500 large corporations in the US based on their environmental performance. The rankings can be further broken down by industry sector.

• Fast Company’s Sustainability Faceoffs – Fast Company has written several articles comparing the sustainability of major competitors ranging from Walmart vs. Target, Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo, Verizon vs. Sprint and many more.

• Interbrand’s Best Global Green Brands 2011 Ranking – This website ranks 50 of the world’s most well-known brands based on their sustainability initiatives.

• Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics – This guide ranks 15 leading mobile phone, TV and PC manufacturers on policies and practices to reduce their impact on the climate, produce greener products, and make their operations more sustainable.