22 Tools and Resources to Be a Better Consumer

Thinking of purchasing ethically, responsibly, and sustainably? This list shows you the most valuable tools in the ethical consumer's toolbox.

Ethical buying can be difficult because the information you need is rarely clear and accessible. But a number of organizations now dedicate their time to making it easier for us all. I have listed the best resources that I have found so far.

If you know of other resources that are worthy of mention, please share them by posting a comment at the end of this article!

Learn about the issues

Once you decide which ethical issues are most important to you, you can empower yourself by gaining an understanding of these issues and how they are affected by your consumption. 

• David Suzuki Foundation: Highly educational. Science-based environmental activism made David Suzuki famous internationally, but his newest website also includes easy-to-understand discussions of health and economic issues as they relate to sustainability. Be sure to check out the Nature Challenge: Green Living Made Easy.
• GlobalIssues.org: A large database of articles ranging from international conflict to trade to human rights to genetically engineered foods. These articles present different sides of  controversial issues and include a substantial amount of data. They will help you understand issues so that you can make up your own mind about them.
• Environment Canada: This Government of Canada site includes information about green buying, ecolabels in Canada, conservation, using alternative energy, government incentives, and major environmental issues like pollution, climate change, and wildlife protection.
• Treehugger: While Treehugger is best known for the news reporting aspect of their site (see further below), their Green Basics page will give you the low-down on a number of complex environmental issues including paper vs. plastic bags, the local and organic food movements, carbon footprint offsetting, CFL light bulbs, electric cars, ethanol, and so on.
• Good Guide: The main draw of Good Guide is probably its product ratings (see below) but it also delivers information about health and ethics issues, particularly regarding food products.
• Sustainable Table also mainly focuses on food, but within that category more than 30 issues are explained and discussed.
   

Compare companies and products

Product ratings

• Good Guide: One of my favourite product rating sites, Good Guide features extensive ratings on food and personal care products, toys, and household chemicals. The criteria include detailed nutritional/health data where applicable, as well as the environmental and societal impact of both the products and the companies that make them. Some listings even include life cycle analyses. Want to know whether your pasta producer gives to charity and embraces workplace diversity? You'll find out at Good Guide. Highly recommended
• GreenerChoices: Consumer Reports is the original independent product rating agency, and with GreenerChoices they now help consumers buy products that minimize environmental impact. They are known for their critical eye and will help you separate the legit products from the greenwash. Their site also helps you understand green product labels and claims and provides tips on conserving energy, recycling and disposal.
• The Green Guide: National Geographic's Green Guide provides buying guides on various categories of household products, appliances, and home improvement materials. Their guides give information about what to look for when shopping and the environmental impact of each type of product, and also include product comparisons and recommendations. Green Guide also now includes environmental information about travel and food products.
• Ethical Consumer: Ethical Consumer offers ratings with criteria in five main categories: the environment, people, animals, politics, and product sustainability. The products evaluated not only include household supplies, but also electronics, utilities, financial services, and transportation. They also offer a paid version called Ethiscore.
• SustainLane: Offers reviews on consumer products in a number of categories, but also provides information about local events and green businesses in several U.S. cities.
• Greenzer: While it doesn't feature ratings, Greenzer highlights green and organic products and tells you why they stand out from the rest. You can also readily purchase many of the products through their online partners.
   

Company ratings

Some of the sites listed above, such as Good Guide, incorporate the social responsibility of companies when producing their product ratings, while others only look at the merits of the product itself. If you want information about overall companies, try these sites as well as Good Guide:

• Ethisphere produces an annual ranking of the world's most ethical companies based on corporate citizenship, governance, innovation, leadership, and track record. But Ethisphere only profiles the highly responsible companies, and is not intended to provide a comprehensive list of all major organizations, so you won't find information about the poor performers here.
• The Goodness 500 is a list of the top 500 socially-responsible organizations, based on measurements of charity, equality, and environmental performance.
• Covalence ranks companies in 18 sectors based on working conditions, the impacts of the product and its production, and the impact of the organization.
   

Live well

• Zen Habits is the best resource online (in my opinion) for living a simple, happy, and productive life. Endless blog posts deliver practical tips for cutting waste, simplifying your life and motivating yourself.
• Mind Body Green: Want to revolutionize your life? Mind Body Green is an excellent resource for those seeking broad improvements in how they live, think, and behave day-to-day. Articles range from helping you sleep better to helping you green your sex life. Unrelated articles, of course. Check it out.
• The New American Dream advocates a departure from the society where we shop simply to accumulate more stuff. Their "new" American Dream is, in a sense, a return to the traditional values of opportunity, comfort, and security, but with a new emphasis on sustainability. Their site helps individuals who want to make this new dream a reality.
• Care2: For those that care about making a positive social impact on the world, Care2 offers reports and news about major causes, as well as advice on health and sustainable living. Their Community site allows socially-minded individuals to connect with one another and discuss areas of common interest.
• Canadian Living Magazine - Green Living: Useful articles about living and working sustainably, conserving resources, and the benefits of a "green" lifestyle.
• SustainLane's Family Living section has a number of tips for living more sustainably and healthily.
   

Stay up to date

• Treehugger: By the same folks as The Discovery Channel, Treehugger is simply the most comprehensive site on the internet for news and events related to the science, design, and politics of sustainability.
   

We will conclude this series on ethical consumerism with our next post: critical things to remember when buying ethically. That article will help you integrate ethical purchasing into your existing lifestyle in an effective and sustainable manner.

If you have not yet done so, you can read the other articles in this series.

If any of the links in this article become broken, please post a comment below and I will either update the link or remove the resource.