cell out • Even tech neophytes, blissfully
unaware of the iPhone’s stream of
potentially life-changing
applications (known as
“apps”), will be impressed
by the gadget’s newest
use: eco-product police.
Dara O’Rourke, a professor
of environmental and labor
policy at the University of
California, Berkeley, is the
founder of GoodGuide.
com, a website that tracks
data from nonprofit
organizations and uses the
information to rate all manner of products
(from beauty items to packaged foods to
home cleaning solutions) according to their
impact on the environment and human
health. So while an item might score high in
the health department, the manufacturer’s
poor record of recycling might drag the
number down. The Good Guide app lets you
search products on the go: While shopping,
you can narrow iPhone searches to social
performance (human rights, workplace
diversity), environmental performance
(air pollution, animal testing), and health
performance (mercury levels, parabens).
Plans for an app that scans Universal
Product Codes (UPC) for instant info are in
the works. And for old-fashioned cell users,
Good Guide offers an option where users
text UPC numbers to 41411 (with “gguide”
in the subject line; standard text rates apply)
to receive a message with the item’s rating.
Alternately, sending a message reading
“gguide shampoo” will net the shopper a list
of the guide’s top picks for that category. —
molly jane quinn
growing community • Raising vegetables
at home or in community plots makes sense
from both a personal health and an
environmental perspective. However,
backyard gardeners who plant extra seeds
can also help feed the hungry. In 1995 the
Garden Writers Association of America
(GWA) founded Plant a Row for the Hungry,
which utilizes grass-roots efforts and more
conventional marketing techniques, such as
advertising, to promote hunger awareness.
Nearly 33 million Americans miss meals
