What Consumers Can Do
As consumers, we have incredible power to drive positive change in the marketplace. Together, we can hold big corporations accountable and drive a race to the top in the retail sector to ensure the stores we shop at “mind the store” for safer products and a healthier future.
Here’s a list of simple steps we can all take to eliminate toxic chemicals and plastics from retail stores and advance safer solutions.
What consumers can do
- Consumers can take action by telling retailers in the Toxic Hall of Shame that it’s time to restrict harmful chemicals and plastics. By signing up to take this action, in just one click, you’ll be able to tell the CEOs from all of these companies to step it up! Your voice makes a difference!
- Shop at stores the report highlights as doing the best work towards safer solutions. These retailers’ chemicals management practices serve as a model for competitors. Highest grades went to Apple (A), Sephora (A-), Target (A-), and Walmart (A-). The next tier of retailers that earned the highest marks were Whole Foods Market (B), IKEA (B), and Ulta Beauty (B-).
- Skip the retail laggards. Avoid supporting the seventeen corporations that earned failing grades and landed in the Toxic Hall of Shame.
- Look for certifications that prevent the most hazardous chemicals in products and packaging. These include: EPAs Safer Choice and Cradle to Cradle Gold on labels for cleaning and other household products. Look for the TCO Certified label on electronic products.
- Check out Toxic-Free Future’s Healthy Choices for helpful consumer tips including ways to reduce plastics, avoid PFAS, find low-cost ways to go toxic-free, and much more.
- Support our work. Your donation to Toxic-Free Future helps contribute to our Retailer Report Card research and marketplace transformation advocacy work that drives change and helps us create a toxic-free future for you and your community.
Retailer Report Card
Toxic-Free Future’s Retailer Report Card benchmarks and scores the largest retailers in the U.S. and Canada on their safer chemicals policies. By highlighting retailer leaders and calling out the laggards in the Toxic Hall of Shame, we are driving retailers to eliminate toxic chemicals and plastics and replace them with safer solutions to build a toxic-free future.
