Thing 17!

I just recently checked out Webware's 100 winner's site - and looked at a few sites. I first explored "Remember the milk" a tool for online list making an task managing. It seemed pretty useful, and would even send you reminders by email, but I didn't think it had much educational value, or much use more than a traditional pen and paper list.
Then I checked out Open Table.com. It is an online tool for making reservations at restaurants, and seeing ratings/rankings. You can save places you go a lot, and view other reviews. I explored the chicagoland area, and it seemed to be missing most of my favorites, so I decided I'd have to wait a while until it's updated before really putting this to use.
Then next site I checked out was Good Guide. It won a best newcomer award, b/c it doesn't have a lot of users yet, but is still pretty sweet. As I explored it more, I got really excited, and decided this was my 17th thing. Basically it is a site that ranks all sorts of products in three categories, Health, Environment and Society. Each category is broken down - The health category tells you if the product uses any carcinogens, reproductive/developmental toxins, or anything that will impact short or long term health. The Environment category ranks their energy management, water management, toxin management, contribution to global warming and air pollution. The society category assesses everything from workplace conditions of the company, to charitable givings and volunteer programs, to customer satisfaction. All of these rankings go to a composite score, and you can search products you use for a score, or browse products for something with the highest score. It mostly ranks food, personal products, toys and house hold products. From the website, there is even a link for some items so that you can find them online and purchase it. There is also an iphone app, so you can access your list of favorites when you're out shopping.
Overall, I think the site is really useful for us to all be mindful of the products we are using. The SEE team and Ecoclub would really be excited about this. (As well as people who are socially conscious).