A Great Green App

I’ve just found a great green app* Shop Ethical ($4.95). It’s great because now we have a means to check up on the green ethics of companies and products before we buy. And that is Powerful!

Let’s say you want to buy an air freshener! (A fake smelly propellant as apposed to a beautiful scented candle or oil burner).

You simply look up the brand name (e.g. Air Wick) and the app will give you the company ownership and contact details, along with their packaging policy, palm oil policy, animal testing record, anti-competitive behaviour and how active the company is in the carbon disclosure index.

You don’t have to sit down with a coffee for half an hour to research, unless you want to (it is a really interesting read). The app gives a very quick summary with either a lovely green tick if the company meets their standard or red cross if they fall down in any of the areas above.

Green Tick – support. Red Cross – avoid.

I think the trick here is to research a couple of your purchases each time you go shopping rather than try to do the lot in one go. Really, we don’t want to be hanging around those aisles any more than we possibly have to. Too bright, too cold, too sterile, too noisy!

This app now makes it very difficult for companies to hide dodgy policies. And what can we do with this new found knowledge? We can tell our friends, family and colleagues which companies to avoid. We can write to the companies with the red cross and green ticks – telling them how horrible or fantastic their company is and most importantly we can buy intelligently to avoid or to actively source and buy their products.

By shopping ethically we can help support the practices that make our world a better place to live in.

Slainte – Colleen

* Paperback version also available.