When it comes to endorsing corporate practices, they say we vote everyday with our pocketbooks. I have often wished I knew who or what I was voting for. Here’s a concrete, present-day resource for the socially-conscious consumer: it’s called alonovo:
“Think of the power of a large database that collects information about how corporations behave and then integrates that data directly into the shopping experience. When you are about to purchase a TV, shoes, socks or an IPOD you can not only consider the price and the quality of the product, but can easily see what kind of behavior we are “buying into”.
What alonovo does is combine the breadth of online giant Amazon.com with third-party research about the social responsibility of the companies offering those products. Every item for sale on Amazon is accompanied by information about the company behind it, where available. Using a 5-dot ranking system, you can see how the various companies stack up.
Your values, your rankings
If you register on the site, you can even personalize your values so that alonovo can better tell you which companies meet your criteria. Categories where you can rank your values include social responsibility (like giving to charity) healthy environment, fair workplace, business ethics and customer focus (benefits to disadvantaged).
As I set my own values, I found that the amount the company gives to charity, for example, was far less important to me than whether they provide employee benefits.
Pick a Beneficiary
alonovo also donates a portion of their proceeds from your purchase to a charity of your choice.
“Beyond helping to shape social, environmental and political practices of businesses, you are also directly helping non-profit organizations that need funding for their critical work. We, the alonovo.com community contribute between 50% and 100% of what we earn (based upon your purchases through alonovo.com) to your cause of choice.”
It’s a left-leaning list of charitable recipients, but not exclusively so. I picked worldchanging.org, a charity that shows you how to incorporate green practices into every aspect of your life (your home, your city, your shopping, your stuff…)
How will this help?
If enough consumers start to “vote” for companies with high CSR ratings, then companies with low CSR ratings will start to change their practices. But this “theory of change” depends on one thing: critical mass. We, the masses, have to use the information, and prove that we use the information, in order for companies to make positive changes. I’m planning to make alonovo my homebase for online shopping (instead of going right to Amazon.com). I’m also hoping to learn about companies through alonovo and using the information to inform real-world purchases.
“When you purchase using alonovo.com, you are doing your part to send a clear message to businesses—we want blue skies, clean water, a fair and growing economy, intelligent use of our natural resources, safe and humane workplaces and sensible partnerships with local communities.”
