Can you think of anything that could possibly connect such a diverse group of companies? Turns out that these are just a few of almost 8,000 companies throughout the world to have made pledges to use their “business as a force for good.” They are Certified B Corporations.

Most businesses operate with one goal in mind–earn more profits–no matter the cost or consequences incurred. Wouldn’t it be amazing if customers, employees and the environment were more important than profits? Certified B Corporations (B Corps) are the closest thing I have found to my idealized business vision.

To become a Certified B Corp, companies must complete an extensive assessment process looking at five key areas. These areas are Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. They must score at least 80 points out of 200 possible points. This certification must be repeated every two years if the company wants to continue this status.

B Lab began in the United States in 2006 by Jay Coen Gilbert and two friends. The goal was to have a certification that would hold companies publicly accountable for the ways communities, the environment, workers and customers were treated. The original launch resulted in 82 companies certified in 2007. Today there are 7,682 companies in 92 countries!

If you wanted to find a coffee company that was a B Corp, you can go to www.bcorporation.net and select “Find a B Corp”. Then type in “coffee” in the search section and it will pull up all coffee companies that are Certified B. You can filter further to companies in the United States (or wherever you live).

Alternately, if you want to find out if a specific company is Certified B, go to the same website and search bar but type in the name of the company.

Making a purchase? These are the steps I take when I am making a purchase.

First I check the rating, score and information from Consumer Reports (CR) test labs. This rating will usually tell me what the differences are between the brand I am considering compared with other brands. As I mentioned in my helpful organizations list, CR is a non-profit organization that does not accept any money from advertisers or businesses. They purchase each product and run items through rigorous testing criteria. Consumer Reports offers access to a buying guide for its members. This publication often goes into more detail about the category of the item–what to look for, when is best time of year to purchase, etc.

Second, if it is a product with ingredients, I will check Environmental Working Group (EWG) to see if it has been tested. If it isn’t listed or has a poor health rating, I will see which brands are EWQ certified and consider them instead of my original one.

For me, product reliablity and quality are very important which is why I go through the process described above. Other factors that I consider are warranty offered and customer service from the company.

I strongly believe that purchasing a high quality product is the best avenue, even if it is more expensive then the lesser quality version. Our society has become so conditioned to dispose of things that no longer work. This item usually ends up in landfill. By making the investment for higher quality, items tend to last longer, can be repaired, and sometimes replaced by the comapny, if it is still under warranty.

If you are getting ready to make a large purchase and would like me to do the research for you, I now have a product research service available.

As we approach the season where we are often giving gifts to others, maybe it is time to pause and think about what is really important. For me personally, I want to give memories of time spent together. I cherish memories of outings with each of my grandparents–even 50 years later! For my local grandsons, I recently started a tradition of giving coupons for experiences throughout the year. I try to capture photos during the experience and then present them with a photo collage as a rememberence. Here is a sample of this coupon gift that I use. If you are interested in the Microsoft Word or Apple Pages version of this to start your own version, contact me and I will happily send it to you.

In the interest of full disclosure, I may receive a small commission if purchases are made from affiliate links. This supports work at Earth Matters Now at no extra cost to you. Thank you for considering it.

New-to-me B Corp companies that I have just started using this month:

• Beautycounter
• Better World Books
• Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter
• Emmy’s Organics
• Imperfect Foods
• New Leaf Paper
• Saffron Road Foods

B Corp companies I have used or use regularly:

• 4Ocean
• Amy’s Kitchen
• Arbonne
• Aveda
• Back to the Roots
• Banyan Botanicals
• Ben & Jerry’s
• Chico Bag
• Dr. Bonner
• Food Huggers
• Good Culture
• King Arthur Baking Company
• NuLeaf CBD products
• Klean Kanteen
• Numi Tea
• Patagonia
• Rubicon Bakery
• Seventh Generation
• Stash tea
• Teatulia
• Tom’s of Maine
• Traditional Medicinal tea
• Uncommon Goods
• Yogi Tea