I ran across this website on stumble, I love it.  Goodguide allows you to find healthy, green, ethical products according to scientific research and ratings. This is a great tool for parents, to help keep their children healthy and safe. Also to keep the companies we buy products from in check, if its not  healthy or safe don’t buy it. Or see if the iphone your teenage daughter can’t live without, is really worth the price.

The GoodGuide Ratings process

GoodGuide’s summary rating combines product- and company-level information to characterize a product’s health, environmental and social impacts.  We provide a summary score because consumers want simple, actionable information that makes it easy to identify better products. In GoodGuide’s system, the best products do not pose significant health or environmental risks and are made by companies that operate sustainably and responsibly.

GoodGuide’s summary rating is compiled from three sub-scores addressing Health, Environment and Society. Each of these sub-scores are based on an analysis of a set of indicators that GoodGuide has determined are the best-available measures of performance in these areas. Our rating panel also provides a brief summary of the reason a product or company scores well or poorly in one of these areas. A good Health score, for example, is accompanied by an explanation that the product contains no ingredients of health concern. A bad Health score, in contrast, may be accompanied by an explanation that the product contains ingredients of health or regulatory concern.

Our Environment score characterizes the potential adverse environmental impact associated with the manufacture, sale, use and disposal of a product.  There are three broad classes of indicators: Environmental management indicators characterize overall corporate governance and the policies and goals a company has adopted relevant to environmental performance.  Resource management indicators track natural resource inputs used by a company to manufacture products, including materials, energy and water. Environmental impact indicators track the outputs of a company’s manufacturing processes, including whether a company’s emissions or production practices are contributing to global warming, creating air or water pollution, or adversely affecting ecosystems or biodiversity. 

Our Social score characterizes the social impact associated with the manufacture and sale of a product.  There are four broad classes of indicators: Corporate Governance indicators evaluate corporate ethics and reporting on environmental and social issues. Consumer indicators include company-level product quality and safety criteria, as well as information about customer satisfaction policies and programs.  Society indicators encompass company philanthropic programs, community engagement activities, community-related controversies, and involvement in countries with oppressive regimes. Worker indicators track company performance on diversity, working conditions and labor rights. 

Check it out: Green, Healthy & Safe Product Ratings & Reviews | GoodGuide

Photo Credit:  ratterrell via Flickr