Best companies to buy from
Check out the lastest issue of ShopSmart magazine (think of it as the cuter sister to Consumer Reports magazine, more fun but still *really* informatative). It lists a few companies you can feel good about buying from. Most of them you've already heard of: Ben & Jerry's, Tom's of Maine, Kettle Chips, Cliff Bar, Stonyfield Farms, Timberland, Seventh Generation, Burt's Bees, Patagonia and Ikea.
For each company the mag lists a few reasons why they are eco-friendly. For instance, employees of Seventh Generation can get $5,000 to help them pay for a hybrid car or to make energy efficient home improvements. Stonyfield Farms gives more than 10% of its profits - more than $10 million last year - to environmental causes and has saved enough energy to power 4,500 homes. Cool! A few smaller businesses are also listed: Frog's Leap wine (the vineyard uses organic grapes and is 100% solar powered), and EcoFish.com which only buys and sells sustainable seafood that is free of additives and chemicals. Guilt free shopping. Now if only they could take care of buyer's remorse.
