GoodGuide

I was listening to NPR the other night and heard a discussion about the social and environmental costs of making e-readers (Kindle, iPad, etc) versus printing books. I'm totally paraphrasing, but I was delighted to hear that books win over e-readers both socially and environmentally. Because of the costs of producing e-readers, you'd have to purchase 100 books on one to offset that production.

I can see the positive aspects of e-readers for some occasions...but personally, I would never choose to read a novel on an e-reader. Never ever ever. I loooove books. Paperback, specifically. Dog-eared and well-loved -- no problem! They smell delicious. I love folding back the covers and curling up in bed with a good read.

Cozy

There's nothing warm and cozy about an electronic tablet, in my humble opinion. Plus, you can buy an e-book, only to have Amazon suddenly snatch it away from you! Not happening with a real book (barring any Fahrenheit 451-esque occurrences).

Not Cozy

Later in the same NPR broadcast, I heard discussion about an iPad application that allows you to scan the barcode of any item and find out how taxing it is on both the environment and humanity. Now, it's getting easier and easier to find info about green this and green that (to the point of annoyance, if you ask me...it seems so trendy and I'm not sure why people are only now caring about the earth)...but you have to dig a little deeper to find out how the people who make your products are being treated. And that interests me more...but I'll admit, I'm a lazy, ignorant consumer. It's so easy to be.

Well, I don't have an iPhone, but I do have an iTouch, and I just downloaded GoodGuide, the aforementioned app, for free. I think it has its limits...you can't find every product in the world. But there are about 50,000 in its database at this time, so that's something. And it's free, so who's complaining?




And just to try it out, I searched for the Herbal Essences shampoo that I use, which I had a sneaking suspicion was not the most conscious product. It ranked 6.6 overall: 8.0 in health, 5.6 environmental, and 6.3 social. Oops. I can search the general "shampoo" section, though, and find out which rate the highest: Dr. Hauschka's Shampoo with Nasturtium and Lemon, Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar (sounds yummy!!), and Miessence Organic Lemon Myrtle Shampoo. The app then breaks down the ratings. For the Burt's Bees product, for example, it says that the company scores well on reducing water use, energy management, and donations to charities.

I have yet to find any products in any category rated at or above 9.0, but I haven't looked much, and nobody's perfect.

You can download the app here.