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Live Green’s goal is to create a thriving green economy.
We lift up the social entrepreneurs that work for people, the planet, and prosperity - triple-bottom line businesses. We also work to make green living the norm among the wide and diverse population in the U.S. One of our core functions is to identify leading-edge green businesses and incentivize consumers to frequent them.
When you see a business displaying the Live Green Spot logo on their door or website, you can shop there confidently knowing that it went through Live Green's rigorous screening process. Specifically, here's what we look for:
 | Products and services that are eco-friendly: Does the
business/organization offer products/services that are on the leading
edge of environmental responsibility when it comes to source materials,
manufacturing/production, distribution, usage, and disposal/recycling?
Trusted third-party certifiers include Green Seal, FSC, Energy Star,
and Green America. |  | Eco-friendly operations: Does the business/organization run
their operations with practices that are on the leading edge of
environmental responsibility when it comes to things including energy
use, energy efficiency, green buildings, paper use, and
waste/recycling? Particular emphasis is placed on carbon-neutrality,
energy efficiency, and use of renewable energy. Trusted third-party
certifiers include LEED, Green-E, and Green Guard. |  | Price/affordability: Does the business/organization offer
products that are priced well relative to competitors, including
competitors that sell non-green alternatives? We use sites such as
amazon.com and target.com for comparison purposes.
|  | Quality: Does the business/organization offer products/services
of high quality as determined by user opinions, third party evaluators,
and/or personal experience from Live Green researchers? We refer to
sites such as Yelp, epinions, Zagat, Consumer Reports, CityPaper, and
urban spoon. |  | Social Responsibility: Are there meaningful socially responsible
aspects of the business/organization? Things we look for include:
woman or minority-owned businesses, involvement in community
initiatives, products/services that actually save consumers money
(particularly those with low incomes), fair-trade certification, and
progressive practices when it comes to human rights, animal rights, and
labor. |
While a business/organization does not need to score perfectly on every one of these criteria, it would need to score well across these categories to be considered a Live Green Spot. To see the businesses that have already passed our screen, click here. If you know of a business/organization that you think would pass our screen, nominate it here.
Finally, we work hard to make sure the mix of businesses/organizations that Live Green supports is attractive to a wide range of people from various backgrounds and incomes, whether they consider themselves green or not. We also strive to make deals with businesses/organizations that make eco-friendly products and services more easily accessible to average consumer.
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