Positive Marks
For years, Ethical Consumer magazine's ratings were all about the negatives.
We always figured that the good news can always be found elsewhere.
However, in recent years, we've decided that it's worth rewarding companies
for making a positive difference and so we introduced two positive ratings
categories:
1. Company Ethos
Back in the 1990s, ethical products tended to be made by ethical companies. These days it's not so easy to
tell what an 'ethical' company is, just by the products that it makes.
This column rewards those companies which demonstrate an ethos committed to sustainability across their
whole business. Included are co-operatives or not-for-profit trading structures, fully vegan companies,
and those which only sell organic or fairtraded products.
2. Product sustainability
Positive marks are awarded to products in a range of different sustainability areas including:
- organic products
- fairtrade products
- good energy efficiency ratings
- products certified as vegan or vegetarian
Download a pdf of the full detailed definitions of all the categories we use to rate companies.
