BidMyCleaning Banter – Posts from your online marketplace for cleaning services

Bidmycleaning’s Friday Eco-Friendly Web Find: GoodGuide.com

Posted by Candice on October 23, 2009 at 15:16 pm

Friday

GoodGuide provides the world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home. There is definitely a growing interest in the impacts of the products we buy – on our health, on the environment and on society. There are more people buying organic and more people who can tell you what fair trade means and why it is important. Sometimes though, unless you’ve got a Ph.D, it is almost impossible to wade through the marketing speak to determine what the impacts of the products actually are. That is where The Good Guide comes in.

Their stated goal is “to provide the most comprehensive, credible, and useful information in the world, on products and companies delivered whenever and wherever you need it. We’re making information available and easy to use so each of us can express our own values and concerns in the marketplace.” They boast a world-class team of scientists, consumer researchers, technologists and industry professionals, from Google, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, and Intuit, to MIT and the University of California to help you.

When you’re shopping for food, personal care items, household chemicals or toys pay Good Guide a visit to get the information you need to make the best decision. Products are ranked according to a quality score so it is easy to see which are the category leaders and get more information on those. For example, in the Macaroni and Cheese category (a favorite food in every household with kids) Annie’s Homegrown Macaroni & Cheese gets the top score of 6.3. Now this is a food items so I guess you would want it to score higher on health category than on environment or society. However, a closer look reveals that it scores only 4.3 for health and 8.0 for environment and 6.5 for society. It loses on the health score due to being high in sodium. A quick look shows that this is the highest health score but much lower down on the overall is O Organics which scores a 4.2 on health. So it looks like Annie’s is the healthiest choice but will also support your efforts to be more eco-friendly.

Of interest to us is the household cleaners category. When it comes to cleaning your house with chemical products the risks can be as mild as skin or respiratory irritation or as worrisome as endocrine and reproductive system disruption. And of course don’t forget the good ‘ol neurotoxins. If you don’t have the time or motivation to make your own cleaning products using items from our green cleaning pantry then use the Good Guide to help you find the safest ones to buy, for example, the Method Glass Cleaner scores an 8.5 and the Seventh Generation Natural All Purpose Cleaner scores 8.2. Read reviews to see what others have to say about the product to help you determine if it will meet your needs.

Shopping aside, The Good Guide also provides information and news to help you stay abreast of the issues and to help you make the best choices. There is a news and recalls ticker as well as an issues section with topics ranging from food certifications and the social impacts of food to ways to reduce your environmental footprint. Their blog contributions include a recent post about the ‘Smart Choices’ program which endorses Froot Loops as a smart choice food. They quote from the Los Angeles times where Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor from NYU, is quoted as saying simply: “Froot Loops? Froot Loops! I rest my case.” Another interesting post looks into endocrine disruptors in food. This is another area where Europe is much more advanced than we are here in the US and given the high rates of infertility and the concerning trend of children reaching puberty earlier this should be something that is looked at more thoroughly. The blog appears to be a recent addition though as there are only posts dating back to 1 October 2009.

Visit The Good Guide … as Martha would say … It’s a good thing!