I stumbled upon Good Guide earlier this week while undertaking a Google search on who-knows-what. As soon as I got the gist of the site, I kept exclaiming, “This is the best day!”
Good Guide was founded in order “to address the consumer marketplace’s need for better information” by offering thorough reviews based on scientific research of thousands of products ranging from skincare to clothing to cars. Products are analyzed within three overarching categories: healthy, green, and socially responsible. You set your own filter to prioritize products that fit best within your personal consumer ethic and can either search by brand or product within the site, or add the toolbar to your web browser to analyze products directly from retail websites.
I set Fair Trade and Labor & Human Rights as Critical, with medium priority given to environmental and health concerns, then scanned through their Dresses category to see what the site can do. Since I put social issues as my top priority, reviewed brands are listed in descending order from most to least effective, with Maggie’s Organics scoring highest (I plan to do a separate post on Maggie’s at a later date) and Emporio Armani scoring lowest.
I’ll let you know if Good Guide proves to be a useful tool for daily product searches. To get started or read more about the premise, check out the website.
I remember the day I first stumbled upon Good Guide! I had the same reaction. I’ve used them to look up mostly personal products – toothpaste, lotion, shampoo – because I already had a pretty good handle on ethical clothing options. I love how much they break down the rating so you can see which areas of one overall grade are high or low.
I found your website after reading your article in Relevant this week… I look forward to reading more of it!