Sustainability is a journey.
At My Shade of Green & Green Cloud Nine, we want to make sustainability mainstream, which means available and affordable for everyone because it is the only way it can really be an integral part of our society.
The best way for us to do that is to support people, organizations and businesses to move in the right direction. Green Cloud Nine will offer information, tips, resources and access to sustainable products and companies to help everyone live more sustainably. Without guilt and without pressure.
But when we talk about brands and products, what does “sustainable” mean?
We believe it is a matter of perception. For some, organic is the goal, for others, local production, vegan or toxic-free, has a higher relevance. In the end, it is our individual choice as consumers to decide what aspects of sustainability are more important to us.
We are committed to transparency and accountability to allow our users to make the best possible choices.
However, it is important to recognise that sustainability is not about perfection. It is a journey that requires constant work and improvement. Most brands or products are unable to be 100% sustainable and ethical in the frame of the economic system we operate in. So, for us, what counts is their commitment to sustainable development and progress towards our common goal.
That is why instead of focusing on the imperfections, we prefer to work with those trying to make a better world, support them and celebrate their small victories, so they can inspire even more positive change.
With this in mind, we commit to:
- Be as transparent as possible when recommending products or sharing information about brands, organizations and individuals. Sustainability is subjective and we want to help you to have clear information at hand to make the best possible choices for you.
- Celebrate genuine positive actions taken by everyone, whether individuals, brands or organizations.
- Support with our content, brands that offer products that are better, whether in the way they are produced or in the social, environmental or economic impact they create.
- Avoid greenwashing in any form. If we find any brand, organization or individuals featured in our site to be greenwashing, we will immediately remove them. We also count on our audience to highlight to us if they believe we feature anything that supports a greenwashing agenda.
- Apply a “continuous improvement” approach. We listen to feedback from our readers and our community and apply that feedback to our daily work.
- Not to reprove a brand, organization or individual for not being “perfect” as long as we see genuine sustainability and ethical efforts being made on their part.
How We Review and Recommend Brands.
- Everything we recommend to you on My Shade of Green & Green Cloud Nine is independently researched by our Sustainability Team. We review each brand and product, and we display, to the best of our knowledge, the sustainability criteria that we believe that product meets, in the form of sustainability tags. We also display the sustainability certificates and labels that the product or brand holds.
- Whenever possible we will check directly with the brands, organisations or individuals to confirm their claims.
- We do not conduct audits to verify the accuracy of their sustainability and ethics claims. Instead, we operate on a foundation of trust. This entails taking honesty as our starting point and depending on third-party labels, certifications, as well as input from the community and our readers.
- We test products on an as-needed basis, to avoid unnecessary waste.
Affiliate Links
We believe that promoting sustainable products and brands through Affiliate Links is the best way we can support the producers & retailers who share our values. This allows them to earn a higher % of profits by selling their products directly to customers. Also, by avoiding unnecessary additional transportation and storage, we reduce the footprint of those transactions.
My Shade of Green & Green Cloud Nine’s blog posts, social media and website contain affiliate links to third-party sites. Any content that contains affiliate links will be clearly marked.
If you purchase something through one of these third-party sites, we may earn a small commission at NO ADDITIONAL COST to you as the customer. These commissions are a necessary source of income to cover our costs, allowing us to continue bringing relevant and free-of-charge information to all our users.
Our goal is to help readers make the best purchasing decisions, however, the testimonies and opinions expressed are ours only. As always you should do your own due diligence to verify any claims, results and stats before making any kind of purchase.
Green Cloud Nine is not responsible for the content or the privacy practices of third-party sites and expressly disclaims any liability, damages or detriment arising out of such content or practices.
Green Cloud Nine participates also in the Amazon Associates Program, where we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This relates mainly to books but occasionally we may also recommend other products if we cannot find a better alternative. We are aware that this relationship is not ideal because of the sustainable nature of our company mission, but we assure you we put our efforts first in finding brands that fit our values.