The Climate-Conscious Shopper’s Buying Guide
What’s a climate-conscious hipster to do? Nonprofit Climate Counts suggests they eschew iPods and iPhones due to Apple’s lack of commitment to saving the planet from global warming. They better put on their Climate Counts-approved Nikes and run over to console themselves with a venti latte (made with Stonyfield Farms milk) from Starbucks. While there they might want to use Google to shop for a GE washing machine and Tide detergent from Procter and Gamble. Just make sure to have it shipped by DHL. Then head home and enjoy a Bud from Anheuser Busch while applying for a job at IBM.
Climate Counts encourages shoppers to patronize these companies, which scored highest in their respective sectors. But they should stay away from Wendy’s, Darden’s Red Lobster, YUM Brands‘ Pizza Huts, Burger King and Jones Apparel, which all earned a score of zero on Climate Counts’ scale.
Climate Counts has updated its Scorecard, first issued last June. “The new Scorecard shows a real shift towards greater climate commitment across most industry sectors — with 84% of scored companies improving their Climate Counts scores. Looking at the companies that showed the most improvement—Google, Levi Strauss and Anheuser-Busch—shows the diverse kinds of great American companies committed to paying attention to global climate change.”
The average overall Climate Counts score jumped 22% to 39 (from 30). That number, 39 out of 100, also shows that there is still a lot of work to do.
Climate Counts uses a 0-to-100 point scale and 22 criteria to determine if companies have:
- MEASURED their climate “footprint”
- REDUCED their impact on global warming
- SUPPORTED (or suggest intent to block) progressive climate legislation
- Publicly DISCLOSED their climate actions clearly and comprehensively
Climate Counts believes the Scorecard motivates both companies and consumers to step-up their efforts on climate change.
The full interactive Scorecard is available here.
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May 9th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
[...] of improved corporate responsibility were evident in our post on Climate Counts’ latest ranking of companies’ commitment to fighting climate change. A cynic might say that [...]