Resource You Should Know: Good Guide

Have you guys heard of the website Good Guide? I hadn’t until my sustainability professor mentioned it in class and I’m really glad she did. Good Guide analyzes products and companies in every category from body wash, air fresheners, apparel, and appliances, and gives them an overall score. The score is an aggregate of scores in 3 categories: health, environment., and society. For example, let’s look at one of my favorite eye shadow brands: Stila.

 

 

 

Stila Jewel Eye Shadow, Amethyst: 3.8

Rank: 4,328 out of 7,066 Eye Shadows · Company: Stila Styles, LLC

Health: 5.0

This product contains ingredients that raise a low level of health concern.

Environment: 3.2

This company's environmental policies, practices and performance place it among the worst 50% of companies rated by GoodGuide.

Society: 3.2

This company's social policies, practices and performance place it among the worst 50% of companies rated by GoodGuide.

 

I love how Stila’s eyeshadows look and perform but like 99% of consumers I had never researched their business practices so I was surprised to learn they rank so poorly. To start with, I really don’t want to be putting anything on my eyes that may not be good for my health. I also don’t want to support a company that has poor environmental practices and doesn’t have great policies for its workers.

With any negative review Good Guide always gives alternative products with better rankings. So now that I know I don’t want to buy Stila eyeshadow again I may try Sephora brand eyeshadow, which had an overall score of 7.8, including a 10 in Health and 7.2 in Environment.

Here’s another example, this time comparing household cleaners.

This Lysol Kitchen Cleaner had a total score of 5.3, which included a 4.0 in Health, meaning basically that some of the ingredients you breath in when you’re using that cleaner could be hazardous to your health. On the other hand, the Seventh Generation Multi-Solution cleaner had a total score of 8.6 with a perfect score of 10 in Health. I know which one I would rather buy!

Good Guide has a lot of ways to use their website. You can review the best and worst products within a specific category, research a brand’s items, or you can search a specific product. You can store lists of products to avoid or to try. They even have a mobile app that lets you scan a product and instantly get its score while you’re out shopping!

If you haven’t checked it out yet I would really recommend spending some time browsing on Good Guide. I’m anxious to hear what you think! Were you surprised by the ratings of certain products or companies?