a website to save the world

Hey there,

Well this is the coolest website I have ever seen, hands down, everyone has to check it out! It is called the GoodGuide and it is in an experimental phase but it can save the world!

Of course I know the world will always be here and does not need "saving" but as far as saving the life that is on it now, this guide can perhaps do more than anything else.

A brief justification of the claim:

First what is and how does it work?:

Well the Goodguide is a website made by a professor in Berkeley of course, where lots of good things start. It has over 70,000 products listed and each one is analyzed for it's effects on your health, on the environmental impact of the product and its manufacturing, and on the corporate practices of the company that manufacturers it such as labor issues, transparency, philanthropy, and environmental actions such as energy efficiency.

Let's say you want to buy shampoo. It will list the products in order from best to worst, or if you prefer you can flip that to see them listed with the product with the worst rating first. They all have a score from 1 to 10 and this score is broken down into separate categories such as health performance, environmental performance, and social performance. You can read further to find out what independent organizations provided information which was used in determining the performance. You can filter your search for things like "unscented", "organic", "low in sugar", obviously things that make sense for the product type you are researching. For food they post the nutritional information, which of course plays into its health rating.

They rate food, personal care products, toys, and household chemicals.

You can type in any brand you usually buy and see how they rate.

You can also compare prices, create a list of things to buy or not to buy, and learn about various issues as the website has a wealth of information.

And one of the coolest features is that you can send a message to the company via the website. So you can send a message saying you are impressed with a company's efforts to be energy efficient and because of that you are switching to their product or you can tell a company you are no longer buying their product as long as they treat their workers poorly. This kind of feedback of course will help drive changes on the corporate level. Companies want to sell shit and if the public is informed and tells the company so then they will likely change their actions.

And that is how this website can save the world. Our consumption of the world's resources, production of pollution and toxic chemicals, and our exploitation of people around the world are obvious downsides to our modern capitalistic system. I am enough of a realist to know that people will not be willing to give up much of what they are used to having so the only solution is to produce the things we want to buy in a way that is as friendly to our bodies, the earth, and to those who make them for us as possible.

Only as educated consumers can we make the best choices and tools like the Good Guide (which you can get as an ap. for your Ipod) are just what we need to be well informed.

So check it out and change the world when you shop!!!!!

here's the link: go to the GoodGuide!!