How it works:

Consumer Aware is a Wiki. Listings can be about individual products or services. They can also be about producers, manufacturers, brands, retailers, and distributors.

Listings cover the following issues...

Branding - marketing techniques, costs overviews, marketing to children, etc.

Environmental impact - habitat destruction, pollution, petrol costs, waste through packaging, toxicity, reusability, biodegradability, ecological impact, energy efficiency etc.

Economic Impact - child labor, sweatshops, labor disputes, fair trade issues, market monopolization, human rights abuses etc.

Politics - lobbying practices, privacy issues, protectionist practices

Content can be hyper-linked to other listings, providing an interconnected database for users to search information.

Listings stay archived so that resellers and auctioneers can visit the entries long after the original product lines are discontinued, creating product and company histories that users can use to retroactively asses purchases.

Features:

- Wiki Articles
The content of this site is user-generated. Any user can participate by logging in. Their contributions will be scrutinized and subsequently edited by other users, making the site self-policing.

All articles will be written with NPOV standards.

Users will also have access to browser engines for making info-graphics.

- User Ratings
Users can rate a product using a five star system a la Amazon. Visitors to the site can see average user ratings and can view them in a series of charts and graphs depicting their change over time.

- Tags
Users can tag items, providing a method for categorizing. Tags will allow visitors to compare listing with similar products.

- Primers
Each primer will provide information on the issues and their context. For instance, how do petrol costs effect the environmental impact of goods? What standards, exactly, do foods with organic labels have? Contributors can use these guides to learn about unfamiliar concepts.

- Discussion Forums
Contrary to the NPOV tone of the articles, this sounding board is where users can freely exchange ideas. Here they can share their opinions, put ideas into context, and debate.

- Search
All content on the site will be searchable. This includes UPC codes, brands, product names, and producers.

Other applications include a desktop search widget, onsite touch screen displays, and content for mobile devices.

Technology:

Existing databases like Ethical Consumer and UPC machine can be integrated with mediawiki software and search capabilities to create a backbone for the website.

It is hoped that the site will eventually work with mobile devices, allowing users to access the database on site. Advances in RFID and digital photos could allow mobile users to scan barcodes and help to further extend the user interface.

The database could be further integrated into programs like Google Maps. A user could view a map illustrating the entire supply chain and trace the production of a product over time and region.

Target audience:

Our initial target audience are the savvy consumers who make up the vanguard in social an ethical causes. These are individuals with discerning tastes who take pertinent issues into consideration when making purchases. This website is for activists, environmentalists, enthusiasts, corporate watchdogs, designers, mavens as well as market researchers, journalists, and students. This select group can be thought of as alpha consumers, early adapters, or protocrats. They not only have an interest in the site as a reference, but will most likely be the initial contributors to the sites content as they have compiled their own founts of information over the years, information they are apt to share. Activists organizations will also play a crucial role by verifying claims and checking facts.

After penetrating this core audience, it is expected that the site will build awareness and reach mainstream consumers. These mainstream consumers will start with those who are willing to pay a premium for ethically produced goods. Eventually the sites popularity could shift standards to a level that financially modest customers can afford.

This site also provides a forum for entrepreneurs who would like to introduce responsibly made products into the market. They can explore consumer tastes and expectations so as to better modify their product lines.

Activist organizations and companies will have a forum in which they can exchange ideas and reach common ground. The consumer-originated content will be an invaluable resource to vendors as they produce products for an increasingly aware public, activists will be able to see how their input materializes into responsibly made goods.

Consumer Aware empowers companies by giving them a dynamic resource for setting standards. The user rating system will be eloquently displayed in informational graphics, causing the site to function as an index a la Consumer Confidence Index or the Consumer Price Index. Investors can follow the index as a way to gauge consumer preferences.

Tone and Design:

This site is designed have all the utility of a reference website while still feeling stylish and cool. It is also meant to be clean, void of clutter, and user-friendly.

It will also avoid the traps that activist websites so often fall into, such as looking too overly green, or too grimly political. The design should reflect the positive but matter-of-fact spirit of the site.

Content:

It is imperative that the listings maintain a concise, neutral tone. They will have no single voice or slant in any way, they are strictly informative. Strong or passionate opinions should be reserved for the discussion boards.

This site simply provides a medium for for making informed purchases. Users ultimately make the decision to buy a product. There will be no boycotts, protests, or demonstrations organized on this site.

Its also important that this website not measure the subjective quality of goods. For instance, an article about a book can describe what kind of paper it was printed on, the ink used, and the practices of the publisher. However, It may not describe the contents of the book as "uplifting" "great" or "exceptional". Numerous retailers like Amazon and consumer advocacy groups already provide customers with reviews and quality assessments, the focus of this site will remain on the ethical component to products.

the Experience:

Visitors to the site are offered three modes of interaction: 1) Listings - Strict, factual material for information intensive research 2), Discussion boards where users can interact 3) A rating system for quick assesments.

Income Model:

Consumer Aware is a non-profit. It will rely solely on individual's donations, public grants, and online fundraisers.

At no point will it be a retailer of goods or contain advertising space (as it would be seen as sponsorship). It will also never have subscription or access fees.

Current Status:

We are currently seeking funding as we work on a beta version of the site. At this point all contributions pay for server space, software, programming, and design costs.

We are also looking for experienced professionals to work as volunteer art directors, consultants, designers, programmers, lawyers, and interns. All inquiries are welcome.