Hmm, it's been a while since I've dealt with any research. My usual defaults are to check the Domini Social Index or to Google the retailer along with certain key phrases (environment, gay rights, sustainability) to see if anyone has ranked them on various criteria. No real trade secrets here, sorry.
A pool of items, because "socially responsible" can mean so much. I lean local and small. Some things I know left over from when buyblue.org was up; for example, I remember that Costco is the good guys of big box realtors. I pay attention to who's known for shitty union busting tactics (eg. Whole Foods), and who tries to bring in good labor practices or a half-decent job of buying goods from countries with labor laws. Sometimes I balance between two different issues: American Apparel is sexploitative union busters but they also pay a living wage to American manufacturing labor, so I trend toward them. When in doubt, I shop co-op brands or stores (Cabot, Florida's Natural, Harvest), or union (No Sweat, All American Clothing). And lots of googling.
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Date: 2009-12-20 11:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-21 12:44 am (UTC)