The World of Leonardo Morgado

Thanks to a tweet by Tim Davies I’ve been trying the Knowmore.org firefox extension. The idea is that whenever you go to a company’s website the extension will access a database and will give you information on that company’s ethical policy within a bar with an option of finding out more information. In addition, it also integrates into Google’s search results and gives you icons that represent different aspects of the company’s policies and business practice.

To give an example, I went to Tesco online to look at ordering some groceries. The extension then went into action informing me that the company has “areas of concern around Worker Rights, Political Influence and Business ethics.”

You then have the option of learning more about the ethical concerns or you can choose to simply ignore the pop up and carry on shopping.

If you do a search on google for Tesco then next to the results you will get little icons which represent what ethical areas of concern there are for Tesco or whatever company you may be searching for.

I do like the idea of this extension. It will give me information regarding companies and then I can decide whether or not to spend my money on them. The database is not extensive. My partner is a vegetarian and for her animal testing and welfare is big on her agenda in terms of her shopping habits and knowmore doesn’t appear to offer that kind of information.

I’m still very much in the process of exploring this tool and even if it doesn’t drastically change my shopping habits at least I can make an informed choice. If anybody else has used this extension or know more about knowmore (crap pun I’m sorry) then I’d be interested in your thoughts.