Campaigners and people of principle rejoice. Ethical consumerism just got a little bit easier.
A new app, Buycott, now puts a world of ethical information about the products you're buying, and the track record of the companies that make them, at your disposal. To find out whether your coffee is made by a company that supports gay marriage, simply scan the barcode and Buycott will put you in the know.
Created by 26-year-old LA developer Ivan Pardo, Buycott provides you with a corporate family tree, showing you the complex network of corporate ownership and allowing you avoid indirectly giving money to companies you find objectionable. Users set up an account, choose which campaigns they care about and which companies they wish to blacklist (and which they want to support), and then Buycott gives you the heads up when you're making a purchase.
Buycott is more than simply a scanning app, however. It's a platform for campaigning. "I don't want to push any single point of view with the app," Pardo told Forbes. "For me, it was critical to allow users to create campaigns because I don't think it's Buycott's role to tell people what to buy. We simply want to provide a platform that empowers consumers to make well-informed purchasing decisions."
Users can set up campaigns, add a list of "targeted" companies to the app's database, and rally other users to their cause. The most popular Buycott campaign at the time of writing is "Demand GMO Labelling", with almost 10,000 Buycott members and over 30 blacklisted companies. Other campaigns include "Boycott Nestle Products" and "Equality for LGBTQ". No doubt a " Buycott Israel" campaign will be on its way shortly.
Currently the corporate data on Buycott is limited -- it relies on users to add unknown products and brands, and to contribute more detail to the information already on the database.
And while the app will help you make more ethical consumer choices, it doesn't offer solutions for when you discover your campaign commitments have left you with nothing to eat for dinner.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
