Green Rating System

Green Cricket assesses every product offered on our site against our own quality criteria, and provides full transparency of “what’s green” about each. Our Green Rating System uses a range of environmental factors that span the product lifecycle. We have grouped this System into five main criteria to evenly assess each product. Part of this evaluation includes the extent to which these products have obtained third-party certifications from government or standards organizations. We have chosen only those products that, based on this assessment, are consistent with our commitment to bringing the best in green products to you.

To help us apply the criteria outlined in the table below, we assess each of the suppliers and their products through a combination of product appraisals, literature reviews, questionnaires and site visits. We have relied upon the information supplied by manufacturers and suppliers, and other than referencing third-party certification as outlined below, we have no independent means to test or certify their results.

You can access a particular environmental assessment for a product you’re interested in by clicking on “Read Full Review” beside a product’s image. In addition to the overall review, we have a method of recognizing products with a particularly high compliance with our criteria. These products are assigned a symbol (or symbols) that correspond with the criteria in which they excel. These symbols are also included in the table below.

Ingredients

What goes into developing a product is critical to determining its environmental impact. Manufacturers have the choice of using a range of available materials. We look for at least one of the following criteria in a product’s make-up before we will offer it to you.

Packaging

One of the more visible criteria of a product’s environmental contribution is its packaging. To save costs and limit their footprint, savvy manufacturers are reducing or eliminating their products’ packaging. The products on Green Cricket exhibit at least one of the following components.

Process

Probably the least visible of the environmental criteria is the product development process. The majority of products go through an extensive series of stages before they enter the market. At each juncture, decisions are taken by manufacturers that directly effect the environment. We look for organizations that are mindful of the following type of criteria in how they develop their products.

Certification

We believe in the value of third party compliance and assurance reviewers and regulators. They exert deep experience in establishing and ensuring that organizations meet market needs and expectations. There are a number of environmentally-related certifications that we will highlight within our system. Each time a company has been recognized with one of them, it will appear in the product’s Full Review.

Examples include: EcoLogo, EcoCert, Rainforest Alliance, FSC, USDA Organic, and Fair Trade

Distance to Market

A product’s distance to market has a direct link with its carbon footprint. There are a number of standards to look to determine whether an organization is within reasonable distance of the market it serves. We will use the popular 100 mile benchmark. Therefore, as a Toronto-based business, we will identify products that have been produced within 100 miles of the Green Cricket warehouse.