FAQs > 1. How do I know a directory entry’s products or services are ethical?
When a contributor submits a business to the directory they are asked to add information that demonstrates that ethical considerations, such as ecological sustainability and social justice, are a core element of the products or services it provides.
All directory entries are categorised by ethical standards label and/or tagged with additional ethics information.
Ethical standards labels
By choosing from a list a contributor will be asked to state which ethical standards labels (e.g. Fairtrade, FSC, Soil Association Organic Standard etc.) the products sold, or used, by the business are approved by. These ethical standards systems guarantee that products using their system’s labels meet ethical standards they set in relation to such issues as ecological sustainability, social justice, human rights and animal welfare.
Read more about ethical standards systems, their labels and how they provide their guarantees
Additional ethics information
A contributor can also tag an entry with any additional ethics information not covered by the standards labels. For example an entry could be tagged as selling products that are petrochemicals-free or solar-powered etc. However please be aware that these are often claims made by product producers and may not have been checked by an independent party.
Learn more about how ‘Additional ethics information’ and ‘Ethical standards labels’ differ
You decide
All this information is shown in the categorisation for the entry so you can decide if the business and its products meets your criteria.
We want to enable people to share information in a structured way but we don’t verify or take responsibility for the information provided in the directory. Therefore when buying products or services from any business listed you should also check yourself that products bear the logo of the relevant ethical standards labels and/or meet your ethical criteria.
In addition please bear in mind that ethical attributes listed in an entry’s categorisation information may not apply to all the products which that business sells.
Moderation
However to ensure that the directory is a useful resource we reserve the right to moderate entries and in some cases remove or correct entries if inaccuracies are found.
Also a business or brand will not be listed in the directory if we find it has been given a very poor rating by independent research organisations such as www.corporatecritic.org. This may be the case even if some of the products or services the business in question provides are approved by a relevant ethical standards label.
For more information please read our disclaimer and moderation policy