WHO’S WHO AT EC THIS ISSUE’S EDITORS Rob Harrison, Ruth Strange,
Alyson Tyler PROOFING Ciara Maginness (Little Blue Pencil) WRITERS/RESEARCHERS Jane Turner, Rob Harrison,
Anna Clayton, Ruth Strange, Francesca de la Torre, Alex Crumbie, Jasmine Owens, Shanta Bhavnani, Edward Lander, Katalin Csatadi, Ruairidh Fraser, Louisa Gould, Marlous Veldt, Richard Stirling, Jenny Derry. REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Simon Birch DESIGN Tom Lynton LAYOUT Adele Armistead (Moonloft), Jane Turner COVER Tom Lynton CARTOONS Marc Roberts, Andy Vine AD SALES Simon Birch SUBSCRIPTIONS Francesca Thomas, Nadine Oliver,
Elizabeth Chater, Katy Bostock PRESS ENQUIRIES Simon Birch, Tim Hunt ENQUIRIES Francesca Thomas WEB EDITOR Alyson Tyler THANKS ALSO TO Grace Hull Boakye, Sarah Rae
Nakama, Craig Redmond, Michael Wignall, Ruby Mucenieks, Sorcha Perris, Mackenzie Denyer All material correct one month before cover date and © Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd. ISSN 0955 8608
PAPER 100% Revive Natural post-consumer waste recycled paper. Printed by Deltor in Cornwall.
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ABOUT THE ADVERTISERS ECRA checks out advertisers before accepting their ads and reserves the right to refuse any advert. COVERED IN PREVIOUS SHOPPING GUIDES
Ecotricity (201), Friendly Soap (206), Kingfisher Toothpaste (206), Infinity Wholefoods (178), Naturesave (202), Vegetarian Shoes (185), Who Gives A Crap (202), 100Green (201). OTHER ADVERTISERS Ethical Property Company,
Good Green Money, Greenpeace, Investing Ethically, Oddbox, RSPB, Royal Hospital for Neurodisability, Safer Medicines, The Path.
Editorial
The ranking revolution Ethical Consumer began ranking companies against ethical issues nearly 35 years ago. No-one had heard of the internet, and reading print was the only way to gather information about corporations.
People were only just beginning to talk about the idea of business ethics and only one UK company had published a corporate responsibility report. Calor, at the behest of its trade unions, had taken the first step and had remained a lonely outlier for quite a few years.
Our rankings therefore were based around collecting together criticisms from radical publishers and compiling them into a kind of ‘readers digest’.
Fast forward to the present day and the ‘sustainability’ documentation published by just one company can stretch to 1,000 pages. And, as we can see from this issue of the magazine a company can also publish lists of of hundreds of suppliers, as well as uploading long documents to initiatives such as the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project).
In addition, hundreds of campaign groups and ‘multi-stakeholder initiatives’ have emerged to focus on very specific issues in specific industries like cotton, or timber or conflict minerals.
It has been clear to us for a while that our old ranking system, developed incrementally over the years, needed a radical overhaul to be clearer for consumers and more nimble around developments in ethics.
Some readers will have noticed us experimenting with some new methods in a couple of shopping guides last year (mince pies and furniture), or even given us feedback on them. Thank you also to all our investors who have effectively funded the whole R&D process that has led to where we are now.
Now, after a very long process of what we have called internally ‘the ranking revolution’, we are ready to take the plunge. This, our first issue in 2024, is the point at which the changes have been rolled out across all our research. We hope you like it.
We are well aware that further improvements can be made, so do let us know what you think. More technical details about how it all works appear on page 9.
A word about our website Many elements of our ranking systems are automated and live links between our website and research database have been a key way we keep ahead. For various reasons, we’ve not been able to align the new ranking changes in print with guides on the website, and it will be a few weeks yet before this issue’s guides and their background data appear online.
ROB HARRISON EDITOR
WHAT IS ETHICAL CONSUMER?
We are an independent, not-for-profit, multistakeholder co-operative founded in 1989 and based in Manchester. Our primary goal is making global businesses more sustainable through consumer pressure. Our mission is to:
1 Help consumers to challenge corporate power by using their economic vote every time they go shopping.
2Democratise the market by enabling consumers to assert their own ethical values by using our shopping guides.
3Have a fully transparent ranking system. All our data is available to subscribers.
4Engage with companies by telling them why we are buying or not buying their products. We also send them detailed questions about their policy and practice on ethical issues.
5Push for wider political action and legislative change. Ethical consumerism is not a replacement for other forms of political action. But it is an important additional way for people to exert their influence.
HOW TO CONTACT US Unit 21, 41 Old Birley Street, Manchester, M15 5RF
0161 226 2929 — 10-5pm enquiries@ethicalconsumer.org — general shop@ethicalconsumer.org — subscriptions ethicalconsumer.org 3
