Toxins in That Shampoo? GoodGuide Will Text You In-Store Info
Reading the labels on every item you buy in the grocery store is time-consuming enough, but understanding what those labels mean can be an even more daunting task. What is DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, and is it bad for you or not? What exactly does “all natural” mean (or does it mean anything at all)?
Yes, you can do your research before going out to shop, or you can stick with brands and products you already know are safe. But what about when you have to make a purchasing decision on the fly? You could grab the best-sounding product and hope for the best. Or, you could sign up with GoodGuide and get the details on your cell phone while your standing in the shampoo aisle.
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A San Francisco-based startup, GoodGuide claims it offers “the world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home.” With the help of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and other partners, it’s developed a database of data on more than 60,000 common products.
The concept is similar to the EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics safety database, though it covers a wider range of products, including air fresheners, dish-washing liquids and feminine hygiene products. It takes a little while to figure out how to access the various details of each item (GoodGuide is still in the early beta stage at this point), but I like the “Create Your Shopping List” feature, which lets you send your list of preferred items to a printer, email or cell phone.
“Seventy percent of Americans say they want to buy greener products, but only a tiny percent actually do,” said Patrick Chung, a partner at New Enterprise Associates, which gave seed funding to GoodGuide. By providing immediate access to data on common products, he added, GoodGuide “will revolutionize how people interact with products and companies. It will shift the balance of power in the marketplace by giving people the information they need to make better decisions, when and where they most need it.”
You can visit GoodGuide’s Website to learn more and sign up for its services (they’re free, by the way.)
Huh, it reminds me of that app on the iPhone where you take a picture of a barcode and it tells you who else sells it, for cheaper, near you (because it has GPS capability). Does this take pictures or do we have to input the name ourselves? And I wonder if it’ll involve to the picture taking.