New Web site rates companies' social responsibility
Posted
Jun 16 2008, 08:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
You're already a smart shopper (or, because you're reading these pages, hopefully on your way to getting there). Do you also want to be a more socially responsible shopper?
To that end, "Penny Nickel" at Money and Values points her readers to a new Web site on the block. Responsible Shopper, a product of Co-op America, rates hundreds of companies in five areas of performance deemed important by the co-op for being a good corporate citizen. The most-viewed profiles so far? Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart and the Gap.
Responsible Shopper also provides links to enable the activists among you to join the fight for better corporate behavior. Plus, it gives tips for greening your own small part of the world.
Penny Nickel loves the site. "The only major drawback for me is that I can't find an account of the methodology they use to do their rankings of companies," she says, and hopes it will become clear when the Web site officially debuts in July.
We decided to check out the Wal-Mart page, last updated several days ago. If you're among those who like to bash Wal-Mart, this page is for you: It contains a brief critique of Wal-Mart's record regarding unions, wages and benefits, and sale of items made in sweatshops. It also provides links to various campaigns aimed at altering the retail behemoth's behavior, as well as a list of less-than-complimentary news articles.
Next we clicked on "Compare Companies" to see how Wal-Mart did when compared with other big-box stores. Six companies were graded in five categories: environment, human rights, labor, ethics and governance, and health and safety. The highest grade among the bunch was a "C." Big Lots ranked No. 1, followed by Kohl's, Costco, Target, Kmart, and, in last place, Wal-Mart, despite its well-publicized corporate commitment to the environment.
Finally, we clicked on a link to find out how we can go green and still get stuff we'd normally purchase at a big-box store. We're urged to shop at local stores, consult Co-op America's National Green Pages, and follow the frugalist's creed to buy secondhand, "trade, barter, recycle," and use less.
