certification-1

Photo by Luke Mattson

These days, conscious consumerism is gaining more and more traction. We increasingly care about how our products are made, who is making them, and under what conditions employees are living and working. We want to know more about the stories behind what we buy, and we want to rest assured that we are not contributing to problems like modern day slavery, environmental damage, corruption, and discrimination, just by shopping.

However, there still remains a big problem: how do we go about doing it?

Shopping consciously is still really difficult. You can’t just run to the mall or to Target when you need something. You can’t look at a tag and get the story behind a product. With so much greenwashing and strategic marketing going on all the time, consumers often find it difficult to trust brands when they say they are “committed to responsibility” in their supply chains. And unfortunately, there are not enough trustworthy third parties to check the facts for us.

Sure, there are several certifications that help. When we see the “Certified Fair Trade” label, for example, we can feel better about what we’re purchasing. We can commit to buying locally sourced, organic foods, and know that it’s better for the earth and the local economy. And we can do our best to shop from B Corp companies, which are committed to social responsibility and transparency. These certifications, though helpful and absolutely better than nothing, still fall short. We need more.

We need a comprehensive certification
We need a certification that let’s us know the product we’re holding has been made in a way that is good for people and the earth. A certification that means the company is working on doing things the right way in every single step of the supply chain. We need a powerful third party voice, run by consumers, and trusted by consumers.

And that is exactly what GoodWell is.

After spending years as an entrepreneur in the tech world, GoodWell founder, Pete Gombert, realized there’s a different way to do business—a way that, if enough businesses participated, would change the world.

GoodWell is an independent certification that will touch every area of the supply chain. If you see a GoodWell label on something, you can be sure that company goes to great lengths to take care of the environment, does not discriminate based on religion, gender, age, or sexual orientation, and are working hard to ensure that everyone involved in making their products, from the factory workers to the CEO, are being paid and treated fairly and justly.

GoodWell runs on the Founding Member Program, with the goal of obtaining 1 million Members. Gombert decided to fund the movement completely by small payments from consumers for three primary reasons:

  1. Because it’s a consumer-driven movement. And we need everyone on board.
  2. Because, well, it costs money to run it. And if a lot of people give a little bit of money, then we’ll have the resources we need to put toward the cause. (Becoming a Founding Member only costs $35.)
  3. Because we want to remain independent of investors in order to ensure values and standards are not compromised.

ARE YOU A FOUNDING MEMBER? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then you’d probably be really interested in becoming a GoodWell Founding Member:

  • Do you think child labor should be wiped out completely?
  • Do you want companies to be free of discrimination?
  • Do you think companies should be doing everything they can to reduce their environmental footprint?
  • Do you think it’s crazy that most CEOs make over 100 times more than their average worker?

As consumers, we have a very powerful voice to change the way companies do business. Will you become a GoodWell Founding Member today? Click here to learn more!

FROM THE EDITOR
At Conscious, we feature powerful stories about global initiatives, innovation, community development, social impact and more. You can read more stories like this and connect with a growing community of global leaders when you join.