BrandAware

I'm not sure how I've managed to miss GoodGuide up until now, but I'm glad to have found their website and to be sharing it on BrandAware. GoodGuide is a brand rating website that is focused on food. The website actually offers one of the most comprehensive sets of data that I've seen in a long time. Every product has a health rating, an environment rating and a society rating, as well as an overall "GoodGuide rating".


An example of how a person might use this guide:
By browsing for macaroni and cheese products, I can see that Annie's Homegrown Macaroni and Cheese is rated better than Kraft's Organic Macaroni and Cheese and certainly better than their regular Kraft Dinner. Then I can actually click on the products to find out why.


I'm going to do a more in depth how-to on Good Guide shortly, but for now, check it out and look up your favourite products.


GoodGuide

So part of what I want to do here at BrandAware is identify sources of information and other organizations that provide brand information. One example of a great NGO fighting the good fight is Labour Behind the Label.


Labour Behind the Label "supports garment workers' efforts worldwide to defend their rights." They are primarily concerned with the clothing industry and the labour issues surrounding it. In case anyone is unaware, there is a whole host of issues that occur for workers in the fashion industry. Many workers are forced to work in sweatshops, are not paid enough money to even live on, and often abused by their managers or employers. LBTL is one of the many organizations who want to bring attention to these problems and change them.


Although this organization is centralized around the British fashion industry, the annual report they put out about the 27 top fashion brands includes information on brands like Gap and Levi, which is probably relevant to shoppers in most parts of the world. Overall, it's definitely worth a look.

Labour Behind the Label