Two years ago I produced a list of especially responsible
(socially and environmentally) and irresponsible businesses, provided
by Responsible Shopper and vetted by The Better World Handbook.
Two years later, Responsible Shopper, a division of Coop America,
remains the definitive resource of such information, with extensive
online documentation to support the company ratings. The Responsible
Shopper recognizes the fact
that large companies almost always get accused of doing something
wrong, and in their detailed profiles of each company, they give credit
for each company's social and environmental programs, and balance these
positives against the negatives in coming up with their ratings. The
company profiles also list brands and subsidiaries of each company (bet
you'll be surprised how broad the reach of these companies is).
 However,
perhaps because of budget limitations, Responsible Shopper has narrowed
their scope to consumer product companies, no longer reviewing
companies (like the dreaded Monsanto) that sell mainly to businesses,
or which sell services rather than products. Because I have been unable
to find alternative resources evaluating such companies, I have left
them on the list below but show them in italics
to indicate the information may be outdated. Companies that have
improved in the ratings are marked with a [+], while those whose
ratings have worsened or are new to the 'avoid' list are marked with a
[-]. Where Responsible Shopper no longer tracks an entire industry
(like airlines), the industry sector name is italicized in the list
below. I would love to hear from readers who can point me to more
current assessments of corporate responsibility in these sectors.
Companies receiving poor ratings from other credible evaluation sources
are noted in the list as follows: [EC] evaluated by Ethical Consumer;
[BW] evaluated by Better World Handbook.
You can help make business, and society as a whole, more socially and
environmentally responsible by avoiding, where you have a choice, the
purchase of products and services from the companies in the right
column, especially the worst offenders marked with an asterisk. The
companies on the left are mostly small and have limited product range,
but in case you want to check them out I've provided links to their
sites. Most of them sell over the Internet.
Common sense applies, of course. Rule #1 is to avoid buying disposable products from anyone
when there is a reusable or at least recyclable alternative.
Specifically, avoid styrofoam and plastic kitchen goods and 'wipes' of
all kinds. Also avoid overpackaged goods, shoddily-made products, toxic
and carcinogenic products (e.g. those made with PVC), goods made of
unsustainable resources and goods that entail exploitation of third
world labour or suffering of animals -- regardless of which company makes them. And rule #2 is simply to buy and use less stuff.
Generally, it's also environmentally (less transportation) and socially (support local labour) responsible to buy local whenever possible, and especially to avoid buying products and services from countries that aren't free (where sweatshops are generally common and environmental standards are usually low).
Some
progressives believe boycotts are useless, because social and
environmental damage is endemic in our economic system, which views
such costs as 'external' and therefore mostly to be ignored. I think
that's overly cynical, but because it's often hard to find any
responsible company in some sectors, I've expanded the lists on the
left hand side to provide more alternatives. If you believe any of
these companies (from Coop America's Green Pages) should not be on the
list, or if you have other suggestions to add, please e-mail me or note
them in the comment thread below. I will undertake to maintain this
list more frequently and keep it posted on my right sidebar under
'Signature Essays' so it's easier to find.
Companies to Support
| Companies to Avoid (*Boycott)
|
Airlines:
No recommendations
| Airlines:
Air France [EC]
American
Continental [EC]
Delta EC
Lufthansa [EC]
United
|
Appliances & Electronics:
Real Goods Trading
Energy Star Products
| Appliances & Electronics:
GE*
Toshiba*
Amazon.com
Eastman Kodak
Hitachi
Honeywell
Lucent
Motorola
Sony
Texas Instruments [-]
Whirlpool
(Sanyo is now off the Companies to Avoid list)
| Automotive:
No recommendations:
Bicycle, walk, or take public transit instead
| Automotive:
BMW*
Ford*
GM*
Hyundai*
Isuzu*
Mitsubishi*
Daimler Chrysler
Goodyear
Nissan
Suzuki [EC]
Toyota
(the only major car makers not on the 'avoid' list are Honda, Mazda, Subaru & Volkswagen)
| Banks, Insurance & Financial Services:
ShoreBank
Socially Responsible Investing
Credit Unions
Fraternal Insurance Organizations
| Banks, Insurance & Financial Services:
Citigroup*
JP Morgan Chase*
Allstate
American Express
Bank of America
Bank of NY
CIGNA
Fannie Mae
Fleet Boston
MBNA
Mellon Financial
Merrill Lynch
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
National City
Prudential
SunTrust
| Brewers, Distillers, Tobacco:
Local Microbreweries
| Brewers & Distillers:
Altria (Phillip Morris)*
BAT (British-American Tobacco)*
Brown Forman
Miller [BW]
| Clothing:
Patagonia
Earth Speaks
Shoes With Souls
Real Goods Trading
Two Star Dog
| Clothing:
Adidas* [-]
Dillard's*
DuPont* (Lycra)
Fila* [-]
Gap*
JC Penney*
Kohl's*
May's* (Robinson May, Lord & Taylor)
Sears* [-]
Wal-Mart*
Abercrombie & Fitch [-]
Asics [-]
Big Lots (Pic'n Save)
Costco
Federated (Bloomies, Macy's, the Bon)
Fruit of the Loom
J. Crew
Jones Apparel
KMart
Lands' End
Levi Strauss
Liz Claiborne
Nike
Phillips Van Heusen
Polo Ralph Lauren [-]
Reebok
Sara Lee (Playtex, WonderBra, Sheer Energy) Target
TJ Maxx/Marshall's [-]
Victoria's Secret (Limited Stores)
Winners (TJX Canada) [-]
| Cleaning Products:
Abundant Earth
Bi-O-Kleen
Ecover [BW]
Seventh Generation [BW]
Allens Naturally [BW]
| Cleaning Products:
Dow Chemical*
DuPont*
Unilever*
3M
Bristol Myers Squibb
Clorox
Colgate Palmolive
Dial
Kimberly Clark
Procter & Gamble
Sara Lee (Behold, Endust, TyDBol)
| Computer Products:
No recommendations.
Just don't put it in the landfill when you're done.
| Computer Products:
Advanced Micro Devices*
Intel*
Toshiba*
Acer [-]
Apple [-]
Canon
Computer Associates
Eastman Kodak
Gateway
HP/Compaq
IBM
Lucent
Microsoft
Motorola
National Semiconductor
Sony
| Drugs & Health:
If you don't believe in alternative medicine,
there's not much choice.
Don't flush medicines into the sewers.
Abundant Earth
| Drugs & Health:
Abbott Labs*
Monsanto*
Rite-Aid*
Tyco*
Wyeth/American Home Products)* [EC]
Aetna
Alberto Culver/St Ives
Astra Zeneca
Baxter
Bayer [EC]
Becton Dickinson
Bristol Meyers Squibb
CIGNA
CVS/Arbor Drugs
Eli Lilly
Glaxo Smith Kline [EC]
Hannaford Bros
Humana
Johnson & Johnson
Kimberly Clark
Merck
Pfizer/Pharmacia
Procter & Gamble
Rite Aid
Schering Plough
Warner Lambert
| Entertainment/Media/Accommodation:
Support your local bookseller,
like Powells or McNally Robinson
Childsake
PBS, NPR, CBC
Green Hotels Association
Toys from the Heart
| Entertainment/Media/Accommodation:
Disney/ABC*
MCI Worldcom*
Amazon.com
American Express
Anheuser Busch Parks/Seaworld [EC]
Barnes & Noble
Bell South
CBS
Comcast
Harcourt Books
Hasbro
Hilton
KB Toys
Mattel
Qwest / US West
Time Warner
(Toys 'R' Us is now off the Companies to Avoid list)
| Food Products:
Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea, chocolate and fruit
Whole Foods [+]
Hain-Celestial Natural Organic Products
Take a local organic gardening course
and grow your own.
Buy from local farmers' markets.
Seeds of Change (organic seeds & plants)
| Food Products:
Altria (Philip Morris/Kraft/Nabisco)*
Campbell Soup (Pepperidge Farm, Godiva's)* [-]
Coca-Cola * [-]
ConAgra (Beatrice, Butterball, Hunts, Redenbacher)*
Equal/Nutrasweet (Monsanto)*
Hershey's* [-]
Nestle Purina* (Nescafe, Libby's, Stouffer's) [-]
Smithfield Foods*
Tyson Foods/IBP Meats*
Unilever* [-]
Archer Daniels
Albertson's
Burger King [-]
Chiquita [+]
Country Time [BW]
Dean Foods (Borden & other dairy brands)
Del Monte [BW]
Dole
General Foods [BW]
Hannaford Bros
Interstate Bakeries
KFC/Long John Silver/Taco Bell [-]
Kroger Stores
Lipton [BW]
McDonald's
Pepsico
Pizza Hut [-]
Post Foods [BW]
Procter & Gamble
Publix Supermarkets
Safeway
Sara Lee
Savon [BW]
Shoney's
Warner Lambert
Winn-Dixie [BW]
| Gas & Oil:
See comments above
under Automotive.
| Gas & Oil:
Exxon Mobil*
Chevron Texaco*
Royal Dutch Shell*
Tosco*
Unocal*
Amerada Hess
BP [-]
Conoco Phillips
Halliburton
Koch Industries
Occidental
Pennzoil Quaker State
Valero Ultramar Diamond Shamrock
(the only major company not on the avoid list is Sunoco)
| Giftware, Household & Personal Products:
Abundant Earth
Body Shop
Global Exchange
Uncommon Goods
Jason Personal Care Products
Make your own perfumes
Make your own jewelry
| Giftware, Household & Personal Products:
Abbott Labs*
ConAgra*
Dow Chemical* (Saran Wrap)
DuPont* (Teflon, Silverstone)
GE*
Monsanto*
Tyco*
Alberto Culver
Bath & Body Works (Limited Brands)
Bristol Myers Squibb
Chesebrough-Ponds [BW]
Colgate Palmolive
De Beers [EC]
Dial
Estee Lauder [BW]
Glaxo Smith Kline [EC]
Johnson & Johnson
Kimberly Clark
L'Oreal [EC]
Owens Corning
Pfizer
Procter & Gamble
Revlon [BW]
Sara Lee (Dim, Brylcreem, L'eggs, Vapona)
SC Johnson [EC]
| Hardware & Home Improvement:
Interface Carpeting
Green Building Pages
FSC Certified Wood
| Hardware & Home Improvement:
Dow Chemical* (Styrofoam)
DuPont* (Tyvek, Mylar)
Interfor*
Sears* [-]
Doman Industries
Domtar
Fiberglas, Spacesaver (Owens Corning)
Home Depot
Sherwin Williams
| Office Equipment, Supplies & Furniture:
Dolphin Blue Office Supplies
| Office Equipment, Supplies & Furniture:
Boise Cascade* [BW]
Georgia Pacific* [BW]
3M
Domtar
Fort James [BW]
International Paper [BW]
Jefferson Smurfit
Kimberly Clark
Louisiana Pacific
Mead Westvaco [BW]
Office Depot
Weyerhauser [BW]
(Staples is no longer on the avoid list)
| Pet Foods:
Natural Food for Pets
or make your own
| Pet Foods:
Altria (Milk Bone)*
Nestle Purina* (Ralston Purina) [-]
Colgate Palmolive (Science Diet)
HJ Heinz (Gravy Train, Kibbles 'n Bits, KenLRation, Nature's Recipe) [BW]
Procter & Gamble (Iams) [EC]
| Utilities:
Solar Energy Society
Wind Energy Association
| Utilities:
Enron*
American Electric Power
|
(Pictured: Earth Speaks product line; Patagonia's fleece hiking jacket made entirely from post-consumer recycled materials) |
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
