How to Shop More Sustainably with Beagle Button

Little Green Blog was originally set up to help people live more sustainably, by sharing solutions that meet your needs when making purchasing decisions.

The site was aimed at helping you live as ethically as possible, no matter what your areas of concern are. Nobody can do everything, but each of us can do something. And finding your motivator is important so that you can begin to achieve your sustainability goals.

Sustainability goals

My passions have changed in the 12 years I’ve been running the site. When I started out, I was all about finding organic and natural options. I had a young daughter and wanted to bring her up as healthily as possible. I was concerned about the chemicals in our cleaning products and the toiletries I put on our skin.

As my awareness grew, I became increasingly conscious of not wanting to support child labour – after all, I was a mum myself, so I had a direct feeling of how awful it must be to send your child into a dangerous, noisy and potentially abusive environment. Then I had a close impact with climate change which set me on a course of reducing the amount of waste we created as a family.

How to find ethical brands

When I started my journey, it was tough. There were very few options and finding them was a nightmare. It really was about beige horse hair shirts and knitting your own yogurt. Now more and more companies are recognizing that consumers want transparency and ethical options. And this is a good thing, except it now leads to confusion and overwhelm because products are flooding the marketplace. When you’re already busy, how can you make time to do the research into the best possible brands and products to buy?

Beagle Button browser extension

Well this week I was introduced to a browser extension called the Beagle Button, which has done all the hard work for you. Once you’ve signed up and installed the app, you can highlight the areas of consumerism that concern you the most. Whether you want to find vegan products, those that are plastic free or prefer to give the two fingered salute to built in obsolescence and find products with longevity at its heart, just tick your areas of concern and the Beagle will do the rest…

While you are browsing online, the Beagle Button will recommend other products with better sustainability credentials. For example, if you’re doing your grocery shopping and stick a beer in your basket for the weekend, the Beagle might recommend a brand called Toast Ale that make beer from bread that might otherwise have been wasted. You can then make a swap and you haven’t had to spend your precious time doing the research.

Shop ethically online

Just like switching your search engine to one that plants trees, some aspects of sustainable living are really straight forward. Installing and using Beagle Button is another of those simple things you can do in a couple of minutes that will help you shop more ethically whenever you make a purchase online.

To celebrate their launch, the team at Beagle Button are planting 5 trees for every person referred through their customer referral programme. So you can do your bit to spread the word too! They’re currently in beta-mode and want to work with you to shape the future of the product by providing feedback and recommending sustainable companies. Sign up here and check it out!