A new tool for eco-friendly shopping

Does it matter to you how environmentally sound a company is? Climate Counts, a nonprofit organization funded by the yogurt company Stonyfield Farm hopes so.The New York Times reports (registration required) that the organization has released a scorecard that ranks 56 consumer companies on their environmental friendliness. They evaluated how companies measure greenhouse gas emissions, how to they plan to reduce them and how they disclose their activities.

On a scale of 100, no company achieved perfection. Four companies, Canon, Nike, Unilever and I.B.M., scored 70 or better. Stonyfield Farm itself only got a 63 and its parent company, Groupe Danone, scored 50. And consider the case of Coke versus Pepsi: Coca-Cola scored 57 to PepsiCo’s 26.

Will this information affect consumer choice? Certainly companies that rank high are hoping that consumers will feel positively about the news. Companies such as Amazon.com, which scored a lowly zero because Climate Counts researchers could not find information about the company's role in climate change, are less thrilled with the report. An Amazon.com spokeperson questioned the work of the researchers, noting that Amazon's Web site includes information on the company's recycling programs.  Climate Counts has promised that the scorecard will be updated as new information comes in and a new one will be released each year. The hope is that the scorecard will inspire companies to do the right thing when it comes to the environment. 

If making more eco-friendly choices matters to you, Climate Counts is not the only resource. Our Greener Choices Web site offers helpful information on everything from choosing the most energy-efficient air conditioner to how to recycle your old electronics.  Our Eco-Labels site is a guide to informed shopping that that lets you search by label to find products that are earth smart, vegan or a wide variety of other categories.