Sustainable Economy Rating Groups

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List rating groups for discussion at the next meeting. Perhaps describe why you like them. And/or issues to discuss about them.

Please put your initials by the groups you add, and next to any comments, so we know who's doing what, without having to search through the history.

NOTE: The three categories are listed after each with a yes or no, as to what the ratings cover. If you think the yes/no is incorrect, change it and put your reasoning/initials. (please leave the "br" in "brackets")

= Rating agencies and membership organizations where membership indicates alignment with the values of the occupy movement. =

Assembled to help guide sustainable consumption. The plan is to identify which local businesses in the Boston area are aligned with the values of the Occupy movement in terms of their commitment to protecting the environment, creating meaningful and fair employment, and contributing to the community.  Because we don’t have the resources to rate each business individually, we decided to identify appropriate ratings agencies. We also decided that certain classes of business, such as worker-owned cooperatives, were probably inherently aligned with Occupy values. The task between now and our next meeting is to comb through the directories of these agencies to identify those businesses that are located in the Boston area. 

1. GREEN AMERICA (Paul B.) -- http://www.greenamerica.org/greenbusiness/sealofapproval.cfm This group lists 93 businesses in Massachusetts they have certified to be socially and environmentally positive. But not all of them might meet our SEWG's criterion of LOCALLY community-building, so we might need to consider those on a case-by-case basis. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABTILITY? Yes (T.F.) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILIYT? No (T.F.) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY? No (T.F.)

- Wes

2. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS NETWORK  (Paul B.) -- This lists certified businesses in Cambridge -- http://cambridgelocalfirst.org/business-directory/ ; in Somerville -- http://www.somervillelocalfirst.org/our-members/ ; and in Worcester -- http://www.worcesterlocalfirst.org/WLF/members.pdf ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABTILITY? Yes (T.F.) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILIYT? Yes (T.F.) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY? Yes (T.F.)

- Susan

4. INSTITUTE FOR GREEN BUSINESS  (Wes N.) -- http://www.gbcertified.com/ This certification focuses on environmental sustainability only. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABTILITY? Yes (T.F.) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILIYT? No (T.F.) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY? No (T.F.)

- Wes

5. NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING, NOFA/MASS  (Wes N.) -- The Organic Food Guide, certified organic farms in Massachusetts. http://theorganicfoodguide.com/ Certified organic by Baystate Organic Certifiers. http://baystateorganic.org/ ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABTILITY? Yes (T.F.) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILIYT? Yes (T.F.) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY? Yes (T.F.)

- Terra's Results: Northeast Organic Farming Map of Farms

6. CALIFORNIA CERTIFIED ORGANIC FARMERS, CCOF  (Wes N.) -- Nationwide searchable directory of organic product suppliers. http://www.ccof.org/directories.php Here is their certification info. http://www.ccof.org/certification.php ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABTILITY? Yes (T.F.) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILIYT? No (T.F.) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY? No (T.F.)

- Terra's Results: California Certified Organic Farmers in Our Region

7. FOOD ALLIANCE  (Wes N.) -- http://foodalliance.org/certification Low-spray agriculture (not organic), designed to assure safe and humane treatment of animals, workers, and environment. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABTILITY? Yes (T.F.) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILIYT? No (T.F.) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY? No (T.F.)

- Terra's Results: Food Alliance Rated Companies in our region

8. WORKER-OWNED COMPANIES  (Paul B.) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_cooperatives#United_States This is Wikipedia's list for the entire USA, but many of the companies are actually local Massachusetts firms. (Even some that don't show their location in the list, do show Massachusetts in the website that is linked to their name in the list.) ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABTILITY? Yes (T.F.) ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILIYT? Yes (T.F.) SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY? Yes (T.F.)-

9. 'B'-Corporations

10. Slow Food

11. Rudolf-Steiner

12. Boston Community Capital 

- Susan