Pocket and Mobile Shopping Guides Help Consumers Shop and Ship Green

One way to help reduce global warming and protect the environment is to support businesses that are working to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, but how can you know which companies are really committed to reducing their carbon footprint?

Pocket Shopping Guide Helps Consumers Shop Smart
Climate Counts, a nonprofit organization “that brings consumers and companies together to tackle climate change,” offers a handy Pocket Shopping Guide that shows where dozens of leading companies rank in their commitment to reduce global warming. The list is expanded and updated regularly to help consumers “vote with their dollars” by enabling them to make environmentally conscious purchasing decisions that influence how some of the world’s largest companies conduct their business.

“If the world’s 100 largest companies reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by just 5 percent, it would be like taking 25 million cars off the road,” according to the Climate Counts website. “Business has the power to have a profoundly positive impact on climate change, and YOU have the power to make business act. The time is now.”

Annual Scorecard Reveals Companies’ Commitment to Green Business Practices
Every year, Climate Counts scores many leading companies—from food, apparel and electronics firms to airlines, hotels and shipping companies—on the basis of their voluntary climate actions: the higher the score, the higher the commitment to reducing global warming. Climate Counts uses 22 criteria to evaluate companies and awards each business a cumulative score between zero and 100 (with 100 being the best). The criteria help Climate Counts, and ultimately consumers, determine how companies perform within four key benchmark areas:

1. whether they measure and monitor their carbon footprint;
2. whether they have taken meaningful steps to reduce their own climate impact;
3. whether they have supported or opposed to climate policy initiatives; and
4. how comprehensively and effectively they have reported their climate protection efforts to the public.

Download the Pocket Shopping Guide or Use Your Cell Phone
Consumers can review company scores online or download the pocket-sized Shopping Guide at ClimateCounts.org. Shoppers also can use their cell phones to look up companies’ rankings so they can make climate-friendly consumer decisions right from the store aisles. The cell-phone tool—called Climate Counts On-The-Go—is a partnership with CREDO Mobile, formerly Working Assets Wireless.

The Climate Counts Company Scorecard, which the Pocket Shopping Guide is based on, was developed with oversight from a panel of business and climate experts from leading nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions. The 22 criteria were chosen for their effectiveness at accomplishing a single goal: to stop global warming. Climate Counts researchers use these criteria to rate companies based on a point system for climate-related actions. Companies are given an opportunity to confirm the public data sources that Climate Counts uses for scoring or to provide alternative sources.