Well, this is a little personal. I’m at Trader Joe’s the other day and trying to figure out what deodorant/antiperspirant to buy.
I’m worried my old Mennon Speed Stick–with aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex–is really vile stuff. But is it? This is where a free, mobile-ready site called http://www.goodguide.com comes in handy. The site worked great on my BlackBerry Curve, but the Curve does have a powerful browser. It may not be compatible with a browser on a non-smartphone, unless you are using Opera Mini ( see this blog entry on Opera Mini )
It helps you figure out not only whether the product you’re about to buy is healthy for you–but also healthy for the planet and our society. In fact, GoodGuide is all about safe, healthy and green.
It has a some great features:
- Browse ratings for 70,000 food, personal care, “household chemicals” and toy items. Check out just the overall ranking, or get really informed with the 3-part breakdown (health, environmental, social performance).
- Learn about issues such as the ins and outs of buying organic food, latest news, recalls and tons more.
So where did I end up with my deodorant dilemma? Surprisingly, the GG showed my Speed Stick was actually OK with a 7.8 rating. But I’m still going to switch to Axe with its 8.2 rating, not too far off top-scoring Tom’s of Maine’s 9.4 (but it’s deodorant only).
Other categories have ratings that vary more. One example: Chips and Pretzels. Top-scoring Kettle “Bakes” has an 8.0 rating. Bottom of the barrel SunChips (hey, I eat these!) could only muster 5.0
My rating for GoodGuide itself: 8 out of 10.
I’d like to see categories added such as electronics, banks and other stuff in the Better World Shopping Guide . But the basic structure and depth of info is great. Readable, simple, actually useful right in the store.
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The Better World Shopping Guide is actually what led me to Credo Mobile (via Working Assets)…
Thanks for the review (and the good rating). Good news for you - electronics ratings coming soon! Stay tuned.
Hi, Robert. Great to hear you found us through the Better World Shopping Guide. It’s an amazing little book to have (literally) in your hip pocket.
Hi, Jodie. Thanks for all the great work you’re doing at GoodGuide. And that is good news about expanded ratings coming soon.
I’m not too sure about this website. For starters, I don’t really know how Degree Ultra-Clear men’s deodorant can earn a 9.7 on the “health” section, considering the very first ingredient is an aluminum product, any of which are directly related to alzheimer’s disease. The remainder of the list of ingredients is largely comprised of various petroleum products, all of which are associated with birth defects, gender ratio abnormalities, impaired brain function in newborns, and so on. There have been a handfull of documentaries and papers released that have associated the ingestion (by any means) of petroleum products into the human body with all of the birth-related abnormalities in recent decades.
Although I’m sure that Degree is better than many other products by comparison, I still don’t believe that a product comprised largely of harmful chemicals can earn a 9.7 rating for health. When you are comparing the products of companies with one another for people to make decisions about the health, I believe it is better to be a little to critical than a little to rewarding.
Also, the site navigation is still slightly flawed. For instance, when looking for deodorizing products, there are two possible paths: one is “deodorants and antipersperants” link on the menu on the left side of the main page, and the other is the “Men’s” link for deodorants and antipersperants when you click on “browse by product ratings” on the main page. The first of these two paths will give you all of the available products, including Tom’s of Maine, and other “unisex” products (usually ones that score higher on the charts, too!), while the second path does not show these options. This is simply a navigation problem, and can easily be rectified, however I felt the need to point out that this is by no means a perfect site, and visitors of this webpage need to ensure they are thinking critically and not simply choosing based on which product has the highest number in the little green circle.