GoodGuide lets you search for almost any product you can think of and then gives you a rating from 1-10 dependent upon the health, environmental and social performance of the product and the company that makes it. All kinds of data goes into these ratings: the healthiness of the product itself, working conditions and benefits for employees, the company's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, their record for air and toxics pollution, etc.I just found out that Suave has a better rating for its shampoo than Aveda: 8.7 for Suave's Balsalm and Protein versus a 5.1 for Aveda's Shampure. Unfortunately, this does not take into account the fact that Suave still makes crappy shampoo. However, Burt's Bees in first in the shampoo category with an 8.8, so maybe I do have a chance of having nicely groomed hair while still saving the planet.
The moral of the story: don't let greenwashing fool you - do your homework. Or get the Internet to do your homework for you.
Thanks for the post about GoodGuide! You're right, the GoodGuide rating analyzes the health, social and environmental performance of a product, but it won't tell you how your hair feels after you use it. We encourage people to write their own reviews to compliment the scientific ratings on GoodGuide - that way can truly get a well-rounded assessment of these products to help us make the right choices. Thanks for telling us what you think!
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