Benefit Society? Help the environment? Other touchy-feely awesome sauce? I want it. If I could spend my money solely with socially responsible companies, I totally would.

Par exemple,  I prefer to shop at a fancy schmancy grocery store selling mostly natural and organic foods, let’s call it Schwoll Schmoods. But it still takes me hours to get through the store because I read all the labels on food I buy. All of them. (I also taste every sample Schwoll offers – but that’s off topic.) I do this because I care that what I’m putting into my body is a) identifiable (what exactly is Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose?) and b) healthy for me and those I’m feeding.

But that’s just me, and that’s just one store. Once I’m out of that little eco-oasis, it’s hard to know much about the products I’m buying or the companies that make them. Shoes, make-up, kitchen items – even cat sweaters – most of the time there’s zero information about the manufacturer, meaning I have no idea where my money is going once I give it to the store and who knows what practices I’m supporting with my funds. Lame.

Luckily for me (and you, too, you savvy shopper), a nonprofit organization called B-Labs has built a community of Certified B-Corporations which are unlike traditional businesses in that they meet rigorous independent social and environmental performance standards. And this helps us consumers compare not just the products we’re buying, but whole companies.

Better World Books is one of the founding Certified B-Corporations and is being highlighted in a new consumer campaign run by B-Labs: Better Companies Make Better Products – BCorps are Better Companies. Check it out here. (<—- You know, click there.) Better World Books is part of something similar in England called “See what you are buying into.com”. Brilliant!

Certifications like these are designed to get consumers like you and me to think about the company behind the products we buy. It’s a great tool to help us make more informed purchasing decisions and use our dollars to vote for companies who use our hard-earned money to do something good for others and for our planet. It’s like we’re voting for a better world. Sweet.