Sustainability — Positive Marks
For years, ours ratings were all about the negatives. We always figured that the good news can always be found elsewhere.
Then we decided that it's worth rewarding companies for making a positive difference and so we introduced two positive ratings categories:
- Company ethos
- Product sustainability
Positive Marks
We rewards those companies which demonstrate an ethos committed to sustainability across their whole business.
Back in the 1990s, ethical products tended to be made by ethical companies. These days it's not so easy to tell what an 'ethical' company is, just by the products that it makes.
Included are co-operatives or not-for-profit trading structures, fully vegan companies, and those which only sell organic or fairtraded products.
Company ethos sub-categories
- All products are fair trade
- All products comply with Leaping Bunny not tested on animals criteria
- All products are innovative environmental alternatives
- Company is a mutual organisation
- All products are organic
- Company is explicitly vegetarian in a sector where this is not the norm
- All products are vegan
- Not-for-profit trading structure
- Whole company has B corp status
Positive marks are awarded to products in a range of different sustainability areas including:
- organic products
- fairtrade products
- good energy efficiency ratings
- products certified as vegan or vegetarian
Product sustainability sub-categories
- organic
- Organic product certified
- Product marketed as organic (personal care products only)
- fairtrade product
- Product is FTF (UK) or FLOI labelled
- Product is marketed as fairtrade
- energy plus label
- A+ energy label
- EU Flower Ecolabel
- A++ Energy Label
- FoE recommendation
- Blue Angel Label
- Greenpeace Recommended/High Scoring
- Energy Saving Trust Label
- Nordic Swan Label
- EPEAT Gold
- TCO label
- other sustainability feature
- Other significant
- Other less significant
- Rainforest Alliance certified
- animal welfare
- Product marketed as vegan
- Vegan Society Approved Product
- Product marketed as vegetarian
- Vegetarian Society Approved Product
We always check the ethics of our advertisers