What is Good On You’s purpose?
Good On You was created to use the power of people’s choices to drive a sustainable future. We aim to make sustainable shopping easy for millions of people around the world by being the best, most trusted source for brand ratings, articles and expertise on more sustainable fashion and beauty.
Good On You contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: “Ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns”. Our recognised and trusted brand rating system supports this global mission, leading the way towards a more sustainable and fair retail industry.
Who runs Good On You?
Good On You was founded in Australia in 2015 by a group of campaigners, business professionals, sustainability experts and tech developers to use the power of consumer choices to create a more sustainable future. Today we are a small but mighty team, spread all over the globe, who share a commitment to our purpose and vision for a better future.
Why is Good On You important?
Many of us want to make more ethical, sustainable choices when we shop. But it’s hard to know the impact of brands on all the things we care about. There are thousands of products on the market, hundreds of sustainability issues, and there simply isn’t time for most consumers to do in-depth research on their purchases.
We know people care about working conditions, animal welfare and the environment, and we want to make it really easy for everyone’s shopping baskets to reflect their values.
Making sustainable choices doesn’t have to be a difficult challenge. Good On You makes it the easy option for millions of consumers around the globe.
How does Good On You make a difference?
Good On You harnesses the power of millions of shoppers who want to shop to their values. We create direct impact every time a user buys from a better rated brand.
When a critical mass of users turn towards brands that avoid harm, we create a movement for change.
Brands that don’t improve their practices will begin to feel it in their hip pocket and will be forced to change. And people around the globe will enjoy a fairer and more sustainable future.
How is Good On You funded?
Good On You is a social impact business that uses revenue from trading to drive positive change at scale.
So far Good On You has been made possible by founder contributions, crowdfunding campaigns, grants and seed capital from impact-driven investors.
Our ongoing income is derived from three main sources:
- We connect top-rated brands to our large community of conscious shoppers with special offers, feature articles, newsletter spotlights and social media posts. Where content is sponsored, this is disclosed to users.
- Some of our content contains affiliate marketing links. When you click on these links and visit an ethical brand’s online store, Good On You may receive a commission for any purchase you make. Note that we only work with brands rated “Good” or “Great” using our transparent rating methodology described here.
- We offer access to our sustainability ratings data and expertise to retailers worldwide that are looking to assess, source and market more sustainable brands.
Please contact us for more information
How does Good On You rate brands?
In short, we aggregate all the relevant public information available from company websites, credible third party reports and certification schemes (like Fairtrade, Cradle to Cradle, World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) Guarantee System and ISO 22716/Cosmetic Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)).
We consult regularly with industry experts to keep our rating methodology up to date. Our ratings consider 1,000 data points across more than 100 key issues and indicators to give a fair and comprehensive assessment of a brand’s impact on people, the planet and animals.
Ethical shoppers demand transparency and we’re here to reward brands that are meeting consumer demands.
For detailed information on our brand ratings, please see How We Rate.
Why does brand transparency matter?
Good On You’s use of public data to rate brands goes to the very core of our purpose to empower people’s shopping choices.
Brands should publish information about their supply chain and direct operations to increase accountability and drive improved outcomes for people, the planet and animals. Consumers have a right to know how a brand impacts on the issues they care about.
Good On You ratings consider information that has been published by brands as well as the industry’s leading indices, certifications and standards. We give greater weight to data that has been independently assured and couple this with indicators of sustainability performance, such as progress against targets.
Do Good On You ratings consider known hotspots of human rights abuse?
Yes, Good On You ratings penalise brands that source materials or ingredients from, and manufacture products in places where there is a high risk of forced labour. This includes mica mined in India, vanilla from Madagascar, and cotton from Xinjiang, China where the forced labour of the ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim groups is of grave concern, as well as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan where modern slavery in the cotton industry is also prevalent.
We also consider whether brands have been involved in any specific instances of human rights abuse in the past 3 years. We look at the extent to which the brand has taken action to remediate the problem, including compensating the victims and taking steps to avoid future instances.
You can find out more about how we rate here.
How does Good On You address racism and inequality?
Good On You is committed to practising inclusion and anti-racism publicly and internally as part of our mission to create a more sustainable future for all. We are always listening, learning and evolving to ensure we respond to issues of system inequality and racism in an authentic and meaningful way. We are working to rate more BIPOC-owned brands and we are looking at ways to further consider issues of racial justice in our ratings. You can find out more about our diversity policy here.
How does Good On You collaborate with brands and retailers?
Good On You works with the best-rated brands to help them promote their positive stories across our own channels and our publisher network. We offer content and affiliate services for brands rated “Good” and “Great”.
Good On You helps retailers and platforms track the sustainability of their brand portfolio against robust criteria, and empower their customers to buy better. We provide data-driven tools for businesses to assess, source, and promote more sustainable brands.
Head over to our partnerships site to learn more.
How many brands has Good On You rated?
The Good On You directory and app include ethical brand ratings for over 6,000 brands, including mainstream fashion and beauty labels and smaller, more ethical and sustainable brands.
Our ultimate aim is to rate any brand that you can find—we’re adding more brand ratings as fast as we can.
How does Good On You decide which brands to rate?
We aim to rate every brand that Good On You users want to know about. We’ve started with thousands of major mainstream brands and thousands of smaller ethical brands.
If you have a suggestion for a brand to rate, please use the free Good On You app to let us know. If you are a retailer who wants Good On You to assess your brand portfolio, please contact us.
Why isn’t my favourite brand listed yet?
Good On You is a fast growing service. We are adding more and more brands each month. If you would like to suggest a brand for us to investigate, please use the “suggest” function on the free Good On You app available in the App Store and on Google Play or send us a message.
How do I use Good On You to check a brand’s rating and find better brands?
You can use the Good On You app and website in two main ways: to check the ethical rating of a brand you know or to discover better brands that match your values.
To check a brand’s rating, simply search for it by name. Once on the brand’s rating page, you’ll see its overall ethical rating, as well as its people, planet and animal scores. We’ll also suggest alternatives with similar style and price but higher ethical standards.
You can also search by product category, such as dresses, jeans, or shoes for fashion, and hair, face or lips for beauty. You can refine your search by filtering for specific criteria like price range, target audience (kids, men, or women), availability (online or offline), and additional options like plus sizes.
You can also discover new, ethical brands through our curated content on topics like brands that empower women or brands that are made in your country.
How can I share the app with my friends?
You can share a brand listing or article from within the app (top right of the screen) or you can send this link.
In which countries is Good On You available?
Good On You brand ratings are available globally via the Good On You app for iOS and Android and the Good On You brand directory.
How ethical are vintage, second hand and rental clothing options?
In our globalised world dominated by fast fashion giants, buying vintage and second hand provides a refreshing, more sustainable way to shop. It allows us to add items to our wardrobe without using additional resources in the manufacturing process, to keep clothes out of landfills, to slow down the fast fashion cycle and the relentless demands on low-paid workers in the supply chain and to discover unique and special pieces along the way. Learn more about second hand shopping with our guide on where to buy second hand clothing to help you find your next vintage treasure in person or online.
At Good On You, we help you discover and support our favourite ethical and sustainable fashion, but we also recommend buying second hand, either from your local second hand shops or from apps and websites.
We also recognise that without care and consideration, second hand and rental businesses can create their own problems. In the second hand market, only a small percentage of donated clothing is of sufficient quality to be re-sold, with cheap fast fashion less likely to survive the sorting process. Developing countries are inundated with unwanted clothes, so much so that some countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have banned, or are considering banning, used clothing turning up on their doorstep. The excess clothing problem is outsourced to countries with less capacity to deal with it and can often destroy the local clothing industry.
In the case of rental marketplaces featuring ‘on-trend’ brands, styles still become obsolete alarmingly quickly, contributing to the problem of excess textile waste.
With these issues in mind, Good On You does not provide ratings for second hand and rental clothing businesses, but we will consider a brand’s adoption of circular fashion principles as part of our brand rating methodology. See here for more information on our ratings.
Why do some fast fashion brands get an ‘It’s a Start’ rating on Good On You?
The Good On You rating system takes into account a brand’s public commitments and initiatives about how they are protecting people, planet and animals. A number of the largest fashion brands have taken notice of the millions of people who have been calling for change, and have introduced various schemes such as increased use of eco-friendly materials in-store recycling, sustainable collections and vegan products. Others have joined global alliances and set ambitious targets to reduce the impact of supply chains. This is reflected in the brand’s rating as a matter of fairness and transparency.
Despite evidence of progress, Good On You recognises that the fast fashion business model is not sustainable, and cheap, mass-produced clothing that’s designed to quickly become obsolete is inherently damaging. This too is reflected in a brand’s rating.
Ultimately Good On You aims to drive industry change by empowering shoppers with information they need to choose better. We want to celebrate those brands that are showing meaningful progress and encourage the rest to improve. Good On You only partners with and promotes brands rated “Good” or “Great”.
Will you rate brands in other product categories like homewares or services?
We’ve recently extended our impact into the beauty industry, leveraging our decade-long expertise to provide comprehensive sustainability ratings for both fashion and beauty brands. In the future, we plan to include other consumer product categories like homewares and electronics, based on requests from consumers and businesses.
How can I get involved to help empower consumers to change the world as they shop?
Spread the word. The more people we can get using Good On You, the more impact we can create together.
Send your friends this link to download the app, or this one for our web brand directory.
Tell us what you think—vote for brands you want to see rated that aren’t already, make suggestions for new ways to help shoppers find ethical and sustainable options, and give feedback.
Why does the Good On You app ask for my location?
Giving permission to know your location is optional. If location services are turned on, then the app can provide you with information about brands that are available for purchase near you.
Once you have found a brand you are happy with, the app lists the closest retailers, including online retailers. And if you are looking at a brand that does not perform well on the issues you care about, then the app can suggest alternative brands that are available near you.
I have information about how a brand is performing on its labour, environmental or animal protection policies. Where can I send it?
Good On You aggregates publicly available information, including relevant research undertaken by civil society organisations, unions, academics and journalists. If you become aware of public information that we don’t seem to have included please contact us.
I have a different question. How do I get in touch?
We’d love to respond to your question, feedback, or suggestion.
