My mother gave me a little book called The Better World Shopping Guide. It’s written by Ellis Jones, a professor of sociology at UC Davis. It’s not really a book, but rather a collection of tables that rate different manufacturers of products based on their corporate behavior. Corporations have the ability to affect millions of people through their record-breaking campain contributions, jobs, resource exploitation, pollution, working conditions, energy consuption, forest destruction, etc. While we don’t vote for CEOs of corporations like we do for politicians, Jones points out that we do vote every day with our money. He says that the average American spends $18,000 every year on goods and services. He says that we should “think of it as casting 18,000 votes every year for the kind of world you want to live in.” This is similar to The Big Green Purse, which I recommended a couple months ago. However, The Better World shopping guide seeks to compile a database of reliable information on corporate behavior, giving readers a very easy list of which corporations are worth supporting and which should never receive a dollar of your money. With the holidays ahead and lots of shopping to do, take a look at some of these lists and see if you might want to consider changing brands. I know I did.
The 10 Best List (based on their overall social and environmental records):
- Seventh Generation
- Patagonia
- American Apparel
- Eden Foods
- Tom’s of Maine
- Ben & Jerry’s
- Working Assets
- Clif Bar
- Stonyfield Farms
- Aveda
The 10 Worst List:
- Exxon-Mobil
- Altria (Philip Morris)
- Walmart
- Chevron-Texaco
- Pfizer
- Nestle
- Tyson Food
- General Electric
- Archer Daniels Midland
- General Motors
Audio Equipment:
Good – Apple, Sony
Okay – Panasonic, Phillips, Sharp
Bad – Samsung, Goldstar/LG, GE
Baby Care:
Good – Seventh Generation, Horizon, Earth’s Best
Okay – Johnson & Johnson, Huggies, Enfamil, Graco
Bad – Pedialyte, Pediasure, Similac, Nestle, Nabisco
Beer:
Good – New Belgium, Sierra Nevada
Okay – Sam Adams, Amstel, Newcastle, Rolling Rock
Bad – Pabst Blue Ribbon, Miller, Guinness, Red Stripe
Body Care:
Good – Tom’s of Maine, Aveda, Dr. Bronner’s, Burts Bees, Kiss My Face, Jason, Aubrey
Okay – Nature’s Gate, Alba, Avalon, Colgate, Edge
Bad – Mitchum, Banana Boat, Coppertone, Lubriderm, Chapstick
Candy:
Good – St. Claire’s
Okay – Cadbury
Bad – M&Ms, Twix, Starburst, Skittles, Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Mars, Kraft, Nestle
Cars:
Good – Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura
Okay – VW, Subaru
Bad – Ford, Volvo, Lincoln, Mercury, Infiniti, Nissan, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Buick, Cadillac, Saturn, Chebrolet, GMC, Saab, Hummer, Pontiac
Cereal:
Good – Cascadian Farm, Health Valley, Arrowhead Mills
Okay – General Mills, Quaker
Bad – Post, Kraft, Nabisco
Cleaning Products:
Good – Seventh Generation, Ecover, Dr. Bronner’s, ECOS, Earth Friendly
Okay – SC Johnson, Dial, Windex, Ziploc
Bad – Pine Sol, Tilex, Clorox, SOS, Glad, Liquid-Plumr
Clothing:
Good – Patagonia, American Apparel
Okay – Levi Strauss, Timerland, Lix Claiborne, LL Bean, Nordstrom, Nike, Nicole Miller, Target, Gap, Mervyn’s
Bad – Fruit of the Loom, Land’s End, Limited, Kmart, Perry Ellis, Guess, Ralph Lauren, Polo, Calvin Klein, TJ Maxx, Kohl’s, Marshall’s, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Dillard’s
Coffee:
Good – Thanksgiving, Song Bird, Newman’s Own Organic, Adam’s, Green Mountains, Cafe Mam, Caffe Ibis
Okay – Starbuck, Seattle’s Best
Bad – International Delight, Nescafe, Nestle, Maxwell House, General Foods, Yuban
Computers:
Good – HP, Compaq, IBM, Intel
Okay – Sony, Apple, Motorola, Toshiba, Canon, Dell, Epson
Bad – Samsung, Goldstar/LG, Gateway, Mitshubishi
Cosmetics:
Good – Aveda, Burt’s Bees, Aubrey Organics, Kiss My Face, Zia, The Body Shop
Okay – Avalon Organics, Desert Essence, Aveeno, Neutrogena, Johnson & Johnson
Bad – Sally Hansen, Maybelline, L’Oreal, Almay, Revlon
Dairy:
Good – Straus Family, Horizon, Stonyfield Farms, Brown Cow, Organic Valley, Helios, Tillamook
Okay – Yoplait
Bad – Hunt’s, Reddi-Wip, Nestle, Knudsen, Jell-O, Kraft
Dental Care:
Good – Preserve, Tom’s of Main, Jason, Burt’s Bees, Ecodent
Okay – Nature’s Gate, Desert Essence, Reach, Rembrandt, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate
Bad – Aquafresh, Sensodyne, Listerine
Feminine Care:
Good – Seventh Generation, Organic Essentials, Natracare, Gladrags
Okay – Stayfree, Carefree, OB
Bad – Always, Tampax, generic brands
Gasoline:
Good – BP, Amoco
Okay – Citgo, 7-Eleven
Not so great – Shell, Costco
Bad – Conoco, Phillips, 76, Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, Mobil
Ice Cream:
Good – Stonyfield Farms, Ben & Jerry’s, Soy Delicious, Straus Family
Okay – Newman’s Own, Starbucks
Bad – Healthy Choice, Dreyer’s, Nestle, Haagan Dazs (owned by Nestle)
Laundry:
Good – Seventh Generation, Ecover, Bi-o-Kleen, ECOS, Earth Friendly, Planet, Mountain Green
Okay – Shout, Fab, Fresh Start
Not so great – Tide, Bounce, Bold, Ivory, Gain, Cheer
Bad – Woolite, Clorox, Borax, Purex
Medicine:
Good – Johnson & Johnson
Okay – 3M, Bristol-Myers, Merck
Bad – GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer, Wyeth, Pfizer
Paper Towels and Toilet Paper:
Good – Seventh Generation, Earth Friendly, Marcal
Okay – Kleenex, Viva, Scott, Cottonelle, Bounty, Puffs, Charmin
Bad – Quilted Northern, Angel Soft, Brawny, Sparkle
Retail Stores:
Good – Patagonia, IKEA, REI
Okay – LL Bean, Home Depot, Target, Eddie Bauer
Bad – JC Penny, Walgreens, Maytag, Costco, Sears, Rite Aid, Kmart, Walmart, Sam’s Club
Shoes:
Good – Ecolution, Blackspot, No Sweat, Earth Shoes, Birkenstock
Okay – Timerbland, Reebok, Nike
Not so great – Adidas, Puma, New Balance
Bad – Stride Rite, Converse, Vans, Saucony, Skethcers, LA Gear, discount and department store brands
Soap:
Good – Dr. Bronner’s, Tom’s of Maine, Jason, Burt’s Bees, Aubrey Organics, Kiss My Face
Okay – Alba, Avalon, Shikai
Not so great – Zest, Softsoap, Ivory, Irish Spring, Safeguard, Olay
Bad – Dove, Suave, Caress, Lever 2000, Dial, Crest, Tone, Purrell
Supermarkets:
Good – Food Co-ops, farmer’s markets, Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joe’s
Okay – A&P, Target, Albertson’s, Lucky’s, Safeway, Vons
Bad – King Soopers, Ralphs, Publix, Costco, Kmart, Walmart
Tea:
Good – Honest Tea, Tao of Tea, Traditional Medicines, Equal Exchange, Choice, Numi, Republic of Tea
Okay – Yogi, Tazo, Celestial Seasonings, Oregon Chai, Twinings
Bad – Lipton, Nestea
Vitamins:
Good – New Chapter, NOW, Rainbow Light
Okay – Nature’s Way
Bad – One-A-Day, Centrum
Socially and environmentally responsible companies that I buy from and like and will try to buy more from in the future include Seventh Generation (cleaning products, disposable diapers for trips, tampons), Tom’s of Maine (toothpaste), Earth Friendly (dish soap, cleaning products), Kiss My Face (hand soaps, lotions), Aubrey Organics (body care products), Jason (body care products, toothpaste), Burt’s Bees (body care products, chapstick), Traditional Medicines (tea), Rainbow Light (vitamins), Dr. Bronner’s (soap), Patagonia (clothing), Ecover (laundry detergent, dish detergent, cleaning products), Bi-o-Kleen (cleaning and laundry products) , ECOS (our staple laundry detergent), Mountain Green (our cloth diaper laundry detergent), Cascadian Farms (love their granola and cereals!), Health Valley (snacky foods), and more. Some companies that I have shopped from in the past but might think twice about supporting include Target, Gap, Eddie Bauer (my husband likes there clothing), Shell, and Aveeno. The companies I am now going to try to avoid include Nestle, King Soopers (which is unfortunate b/c many of them are expanding their organic offerings), Quilted Northern, Brawny, all the bad gas stations (Shell, Costco, Conoco, Phillips, 76, Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, Mobil), Dillard’s and Mitchum (my former deoderant brand).
