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Finch — Your shopping guide for more sustainable stuff
Finch is your shopping guide for more sustainable stuff. Visit choosefinch.com to access sustainability scores and environmental assessments for hundreds of thousands of products.
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@jane_pennoyer1 Happy to hear, how do you crawl and analyze the product ingredients and in which dimensions do you evaluate the scores?
@canberk_ars We use publicly available data on ingredients and certifications to generate product scores that account for impacts to climate, ecosystem, human well-being, raw materials, water, and waste.
@jane_pennoyer1 That is great, do you also validate the available data in some ways? Thanks for the answer.
@canberk_ars We work hard to validate ALL our data. On the product side we gather data from multiple sources, including the manufacturers and retailers, then cross reference the data sets. We never take a brand or manufacturers "word for it" on sustainability. For example, if a brand says they are Leaping Bunny certified, we check that claim directly with Leaping Bunny.
Congrats on your Launch!
I have a sustainable eCommerce brand in Europe. Are you currently only targeting the US market?
@matthias_strafinger Thanks! Yes, we are currently targeting the US market only, but we will expand to Europe when we have the capacity to do so!
@matthias_strafinger @jane_pennoyer1 And we're always interested in new brands-- we have a form on our website. Tell us about what you're building!
Thank you for creating Finch! It’s great that you give access to an easy-to-understand information resource to help make more informed choices about the environment and sustainability. Congratulations, and keep up the fantastic work 🎉
@roxanne_b Thank you! We are excited to increase access to data on the environmental impacts of the stuff people buy every day!
Congrats on the launch, team! Have been looking for a solution like this for honestly more than 10 years. What are the data inputs for the environmental score? Is this score proprietary or do you use universal labels 'certified organic' etc.? Do brands submit these themselves or do you get the data from a third party?
@charmandro Our Finch scores are based on more than 1,000 data points including peer reviewed environmental science, gov literature (the EU's work is especially robust! Thanks EU!), and 3rd party certifications. It is proprietary but also based on existing, validated standards (like organic!). We always verify brand claims with the direct source. So if a brand says it is a B Corp, we cross reference that directly.
Love the high scoring alternatives idea. How's your database compared to something like Spot?
This is just another expansion on it so feel free to discard:
what do you think of asking someone about the items they use in their daily lives, and then recommend more sustainable alternatives? Could also factor in price.
@daniyalbetween We LOVE the idea of doing a survey/onboarding quiz/similar to determine what folks use and then make simple swap recommendations. It's FOR SURE on the roadmap. Reinforcing to hear that idea from outside the team-- thank you!
The Spot database is great at presenting data, but it doesn't "make meaning" of the data. Finch is working to make an integrates score that combines multiple factors and features-- manufacturing location, shipping type, ingredients, brand and product certifications. So rather than having to understand the nuances of apples and oranges to combine them, we do that work. Plus the simple swaps!
@sarahtuneberg Understood and agreed about Spot. Databases may be similar but Spot is tough to draw any conclusions on
Congrats on your launch! I look forward to using this - just bought a face lotion and had no idea how to tell if it was actually clean or not, despite branding. This is so needed!
This looks so useful! I recently had a baby and am learning more about diapers and milk storage bags - do you have any guides for those products? Interested in balancing sustainability, affordability and ease of use when running on little sleep ;)
@meaghan_mcg1 For diapers, we have got you!! You can search "diapers" in the search bar on our site, or check out the diapers category page (https://www.choosefinch.com/cate...). We have over 20 other baby product categories scored as well, including bibs, diaper cream, and crib mattresses!
@meaghan_mcg1 We haven't scored milk storage bags yet, but they're on our roadmap. Let us know if there are any other product categories you're interested in seeing!
Also what about PFAS in my outdoor gear? I love to ski and have lots of waterproof jackets around the house. Now with a young baby in the home I’m concerned about their exposure. Apart from Patagonia I think most manufacturers still use those chemicals for waterproofing. Thanks for the input!!
@thomasselby Ooof. PFAS are so troubling. We don't currently score outdoor gear (though its on the roadmap!). The current advice we've seen and incorporate on PFAS exposure is to limit it where possible, especially for things you eat and drink, eat and drink off of, and come into direct contact with (like carpet). Luckily babies don't tend to eat skis. Maybe try to wear a non-stain treated, non-waterproof jacket when holding the baby? Thanks for the feedback!
So exciting about the launch! I would love to know how the scoring system works and how I can find the best sustainable toilet paper using your system
@maxwell_blair we score products based on their impacts across climate, ecosystem, human well-being, waste, water, and raw materials.
Our favorite sustainable toilet papers are made with 100% recycled paper pulp and can be found at choosefinch.com !
As a new mom, I want to avoid harsh chemicals and harmful materials for my baby. I love that Finch takes the mental load off by finding safe products for me so I can take care of my baby without sorting through bogus claims. It's simple and fun to use, and I love the branding. It low-key has taught me a lot for what to look for.
@jane_pennoyer1 I love the platform! There are a few suggestions I have thought of off the bat to make it more useful: 1. the ability to sort search results would be helpful, 2. a reporting function that would allow users to flag items for you to run QC on - I noticed a few things that were contradictory in search results as well as some “similar products” suggestions that weren’t similar products. 3. I’d love to be able to click through and learn why something was ranked the way it was. The EWG platform does a good job of this. I’d love to be able to tap into more data behind rankings. 4. A product ranking request or suggestion “box” would be helpful. A brand of diapers I buy wasn’t listed but i’d love to know how they stack up. It would help you see where your weakness are as well from an analytics standpoint.
@tiffany_loverd Thank you so much for these suggestions! This kind of feedback is so helpful and I agree on all fronts.
@sam_gross401 We've scored hundreds of thousands of products across more than 100 categories, and they are all searchable on choosefinch.com !
@sam_gross401 I love the user profile feature and that fact that you can follow friends. It's interesting to see my friends' favorite products and their thoughts on stuff I've been wanting to try.
@between_team in this age of rampant greenwashing when there is very little regulation over the terminology that brands plaster on their packaging, we wanted to bring transparency to the environmental impacts of everyday products using verified scientific data sources.
@thomasselby Avoiding microplastics wherever possible is key. Using face wash (and all products) that comes in a glass or metal container helps! As does ensuring your products don't have microbeads. We have tons of recs on our site. Check 'em out and let us know what you think! Thanks!
@kreillss We do incorporate social attributes into our scoring system. If you look at a product's environmental assessment (which can be seen on any product page on our website), you'll see a "Human Well-Being" score. That is where the social attributes are measured. We rely heavily on certifications to help us assess the social attributes of a product -- the Fair Trade certification is a great example, though there are many more.
@nilex_robart let us know if you have any questions and thank you so much for the support!
The branding looks very nice shades and very interesting I wish you success at the launch🚀
@kurtknee the same scoring system is used across all websites, and right now just Amazon and Target but we'll get to other websites soon! Please stay tuned. Brands are paying attention - it's fun to see them engaging and especially open to change once they see how they compare to similar products.
Such a cool product, love the deep dives you guys do on particular items like plant-based milks or laundry detergents. Do you guys score light bulbs by chance?
@daillenculver we don’t score light bulbs yet but we have it on our roadmap! Let us know if there are any other products you’re interested in seeing.
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