ClearSpend | Shopping Like Never Before

Bottled Water

Submitted by Homer on Sun, 2008/01/27 - 20:41.

Courtesy Garry Trudeau of Doonesbury:

Coke and Pepsi bottle municipal tap water as “Dasani” and “Aquafina” and sell it to us [US consumers] at twice the cost of gasoline!

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Sparky's Biography

Submitted by Sparky on Wed, 2008/01/16 - 20:18.

I, Sparky, was hatched at the meeting ground between Heaven and Earth.

And a snowflake.

On a trajectory to do no wrong, I have since grown in breadth and scope to infiltrate fresh realms of spirit, bravado, and ravishing yumminess most incarnate humans only dream of. Imparted with the native wisdom of a thousand planets, I venture forth to re-set the human condition on its mission as divine overseer of all known dimensions.

I do this, then I usually take my break for cookies and chocolate milk (or egg nog between Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Homer's Biography

Submitted by Homer on Wed, 2008/01/16 - 00:54.

Having traveled extensively in my several thousand year existence, I now wish to retire to a secluded Greek isle and live out my days in idyllic pleasure. Yet my love for writing about life's wonders and joys and suffering and misery makes me continue my journeys.

From Darfur to Chile to the United States to Burma to Bosnia, my commitment that the world should know the full truth of History keeps me from my ouzo and pushes my pen forward. For without historians who will record the unbrushed truth, man shall not understand his world.

American Spending

Submitted by Sparky on Wed, 2008/01/16 - 00:06.

DYK?

Did you know?

American individuals and companies together spend more than $13 Trillion per year on goods and services.

About ClearSpend

ClearSpend is a virtual company, a loose alliance of volunteer people (bloggers, programmers, moderators, and posters) from all over the U.S. and the world. The first two volunteers were Homer and Sparky.

ClearSpend's goal is to produce the first complete search engine devoted to tracking corporate malfeasance and altruism.

ClearSpend FAQ

What is ClearSpend?

The “official” answer is: ClearSpend is a service that allows you to research companies, so you are able to buy products from companies that share your value system.

Feeling “more” was needed, we then asked over 20 people at our company to answer this question. Here are the six most popular answers.

Sorry you canceled your Donation

Ahhh! We're sorry you canceled your donation. If it's something we did, please tell us what went wrong so we can fix it!

Sincerely,

Homer
Chief Wizard
ClearSpend.com

Thanks for the Donation

Thank you for your donation! We will put it to good use and make ClearSpend a much stronger and useful site.

Sincerely,

Homer
Chief Wizard
ClearSpend.com

Categories

Tag/Category Name - Description

Christian - OTHER – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of any Christian religion not covered in the other categories.
Citizen Rights – Rights related to the freedom of the individual to engage in the daily activities of life without limits on that freedom and as long as exercising those freedoms does not negatively impact upon others.
Affirmative Action – Seeking to redress past discrimination through active measures to ensure current and future equality.
Consumer Advocacy – The support or representation of persons who use products or services.
Drug Freedoms – And individual's right to consume drugs, pharmaceuticals, or chemicals, as long as the effects of that decision do not impact or diminish the freedoms and rights of others.
Euthanasia – A person's right to have someone else humanely end their life if they are sick or disabled. Also: A 'good' death, a welcome way to depart quietly and well from life.
Right to Privacy – The right to be secure in the knowledge that no one is scrutinizing your personal or business affairs without just cause or prior suspicion of criminal intent.
Media Responsibility – The belief that mass media (newspapers, television, radio, etc.) has a basic responsibility to disseminate information crucial to the society while minimizing reporting biases, to act as a government watchdog, and to moderate displays of vulgarity, at least in generally accessible public forums.
OTHER Citizen Rights – Covers any and all other citizen rights issues not covered by other categories.
Property Rights - OTHER – This cause deals with all other property rights.
Property Rights - Eminent Domain – Government acquisition of private property by coercion or force, with or without fiduciary compensation, for any reasons other than for commonly accepted civic purposes such as roads.
Property Rights - Intellectual Property Laws – Specifically, this cause deals with patents, trademarks, and copyright, and the right of the creator of a work, product or invention to capitalize on their creation without others impinging on or stealing the work and profiting from its distribution.
Right to Self-Protection – The right to defend oneself, one's relatives, or one's home. This right historically comes before the rights of the state.
Sexual Freedoms - OTHER – This category covers all citizen sexual freedoms issues not covered by the other sexual freedoms categories.
Sexual Freedoms - Legalized Prostitution – The right to legally access sexual services that are justly compensated in an open, free market.
Sexual Freedoms - Pornography – This category covers the right of citizens to freely access or purchase any sexually related media or live entertainment.
Freedom of Speech – The right to speak freely without censorship or fear of punishment.
Arts & Culture – Assistance or funding of arts (creative expression) and cultural (social relationships and practices) organizations.
General Philanthropy – Assistance, fiduciary or otherwise, related to helping individuals or civic organizations improve the welfare of the community.
Civic Vitality – Activities engaged in by individuals or organizations for the greater human welfare and enhancement.
OTHER Civic Vitality – This category covers any effort by individuals or organizations to strengthen or enliven the local community and not covered by the other categories.
Neighborhood Revitalization – Repair or upgrade to community common spaces such as roads, sidewalks, assembly places.
Historic Preservation – Efforts made by individuals or organizations to preserve well-known or important buildings or sites.
Local Spending – Spending by an individual or organization where the money is going directly back into the local community.
Sustainable Development – This category covers development that is positive to the local community, enlivening or enriching it.
Company Rights – The rights of any company to lawfully engage in competitive business practices.
OTHER Company Rights – Any other company rights not covered by the other categories.
Offshoring – The relocation of business practices to another country.
Outsourcing – Delegation of company tasks to an external entity.
Work Visas – Any entity importing immigrants to work jobs otherwise reserved for local employees.
OTHER Violent Criminal and Unethical Activity – Any other physically violent criminal or unethical activity not covered by the other categories.
OTHER Non-Violent Criminal and Unethical Activity – Any other non-violent criminal or unethical activity not covered by the other categories.
Fraud - Financial – Any instance where an individual or organization secures money through deceit.
Fraud - Medical – Any instance where an individual or organization secures business or some other gain through deceit in the course of providing medical services.
Criminal and Unethical Activity – Activities considered illegal or dishonest.
Bribery – Any activity where an official or other individual is secretly offered or given money by an entity in order to secure a favor or deal.
Fraud - OTHER – Any instance where an individual or organization secures business or some other gain through deceit and not covered by the other categories.
Homicide – Any entity that has either directly or indirectly caused the death of an individual in order to gain something.
Terrorism and Terrorist Support – An entity that practices either violent or non-violent terrorist activities, including psychological warfare, in order to secure some gain or any condition in which an entity has knowingly provided material support to organizations or entities that are engaged in terrorist activities.
War Crimes – Any investment in organizations or individuals or direct involvement in activities that either directly or indirectly lead to execution of any war crime or crime against humanity.
Discrimination – The denial of work, products, or services (or otherwise harming someone) based on some aspect intrinsic to or closely identified with their being.
OTHER Discrimination – Any other category of discrimination not covered elsewhere in which an entity denies work, products or services or otherwise harms someone based on some discriminating condition.
Age Discrimination – Any activity in which an entity denies work, products or services to someone based on their age.
Disability Intolerance – Any activity in which an entity denies work, products or services to someone based on their disability.
Racial Discrimination – Any activity in which an entity denies work, products or services or otherwise harms someone someone based on their race.
Religious Intolerance – Any activity in which an entity denies work, products or services or otherwise harms someone someone based on their religious identity.
Sexual Discrimination – Any activity in which an entity denies work, products or services or otherwise harms someone someone based on their sex or self-selected sexual identity.
Weight Discrimination – Any activity in which an entity denies work, products or services or otherwise harms someone someone based on their weight.
OTHER Food Adulteration – This category covers any other factors not listed in the other categories regarding purity of the food or water supply.
Food Adulteration – Activities, deliberate or incidental, resulting in harmful effect upon the purity of food, beverages, or consumable water.
Chemical Farming – Any condition in which an entity deliberately adds artificial chemicals, pesticides, hormones, fertilizers or other compounds into the food or beverage during its growth or production cycle.
Factory Farming – Any condition where an entity engages in economics of scale or centralized control in order to limit the availability of independent or traditional farming production into the market.
Food Additives – Any condition in which a chemical or compound is deliberately added to food or beverages that is not considered conclusively safe according to the most stringent tests and standards and that places the consumer at potential short or long term risk of deleterious health effects, either by itself or in concert with other chemicals or compounds.
Food Supply Pollution – This category covers any chemical or compound that is accidentally or incidentally introduced into foods or beverages due to containment, processing or growth of the consumable food or beverage or its component ingredients.
Genetic Modification – Any activity engaged in by an entity in which a plant or animal genome is deliberately selectively altered in order to breed an offspring with some valued trait. This may or may not include traditional selective breeding techniques generally considered safer and that allow the integrity of the genome to assert itself.
Water Pollution – Any activity or condition in which a water course deliberately takes on contaminants considered harmful or deleterious to other living beings or to the long term integrity of the biosphere.
Gender Rights – The rights of the individual to determine and express their chosen gender identity.
OTHER Gender Rights – Any gender rights not covered under the other categories.
Gender Lifestyle Choice – This category covers the right of an individual to engage in activities or to select a gender identity most comfortable to the individual.
Men's Rights - OTHER – This category covers all other male gender rights not covered under reproductive rights.
Men's Rights - Male Reproductive Rights – This category covers all male rights to be able to make reproductive choices.
Women's Rights - OTHER – This category covers all other female gender rights not covered under reproductive rights.
Women's Rights - Female Reproductive Rights – This category covers all female rights to be able to make reproductive choices.
Government Initiatives – Those actions government should take on in order to maintain or create a more viable, just, fiscally solvent, and free society.
OTHER Government Initiatives – Any government initiatives not covered by the other categories.
Government Responsibility – The responsibilities that government must take on in order to protect its citizens.
OTHER Government Responsibility – Any government responsibility not enumerated in the other categories.
Alternative Energy Initiatives – The responsibility of government to encourage development of alternative energy sources.
Arms Production and Trade Controls – The responsibility of government to monitor and control production and trading of arms.
Campaign Finance Reform – The responsibility of government to monitor and force change in the campaign funding process to strengthen faith in the integrity of the voting process.
Church-State Separation – The responsibility of government to maintain a strict separation of state and church in order to not provide favor to any one religion or practice at the expense of others.
Educational Reform – The responsibility of government to maintain and modify the public education process to encourage more effective, relevant and complete non-partisan education.
Ethical Taxation – The responsibility of government to provide a taxation structure that is generally accepted as fair and representative of the needs of the population and that does not excessively punish any single group of constituents.
Eliminating Favoritism – The responsibility of the government to maintain or create systems that reduce or prevent the favoring of certain vendors by government primarily due to prior business or personal relationships with those working within the government.
Immigration Control – The responsibility of the government to maintain secure borders to limit illegal immigration and to set up those laws and conditions that allow some immigration while placing limits on the scale of that immigration.
Free Trade – The responsibility of the government to set up those laws and systems that maximally benefit the fiscal integrity of the nation.
Limiting Regulation – The responsibility of the government to not engage in excessive regulation or to reduce or remove regulation to spur private sector activity.
Multi-Party Support – The responsibility of the government to provide those conditions which will encourage the growth of alternate political parties that are empowered to effect change within the government.
Privatization – The responsibility of the government to reduce the size of government by offloading services to the private sector.
Public Debt Limits – The responsibility of the government to limit government spending or to rein it in in order to maintain a solvent government that is not placing the future financial viability of the nation in jeopardy.
Citizen Sovereignty – The responsibility of the government to protect the rights of individuals to engage in daily life without undue control or limits placed on such activity.
Trusted Voting – The responsibility of government to develop and maintain those systems that maximize public trust in the democratic voting process.
Human Abuse – Actions that are harmful to the future physical, mental, or emotional health of the individual.
OTHER Human Abuse – Any abuse not covered in other categories where adults or children can suffer against their will and due to the actions of an external agent.
Child Neglect - OTHER – Any other cases where the physical, mental, or emotional health of a child (not an adult) may be endangered in the long term.
Child Neglect - Child Abuse – Any activity caused by caregivers that may cause long term harm to the physical, mental, or emotional well being of a child.
Child Neglect - Child Labor – Any activity in which children are forced to engage in labor activity and that may cause long term harm to the physical, mental, or emotional health of a child or that causes the child to spend inordinate hours performing work.
Child Neglect - Child Soldiers – Any case where children are encouraged or enlisted to engage in war activities.
Death Penalty – Any system of law that posits as the maximum penalty for crimes or other transgressions the death of the individual.
Human Coercion - OTHER – Any case where adults or children may be coerced by circumstance (but not forced) into deleterious activities that are not covered by the other categories.
Human Coercion - Sexual Abuse – Any activity where an individual is coerced into performing or engaging in sex acts against their will or where the individual is physically, mentally, or emotionally harmed in the commission of a sex act.
Human Coercion - Slave Labor – Any activity where an individual, against their will, is kept incarcerated or otherwise physically incapacitated and forced to engage in work.
Human Coercion - Sweatshops – Any activity where an individual is coerced, due to their financial or personal circumstance, into accepting work for an entity at substantially less than equitable salary or benefits or for an excessive number of hours per week.
Human Welfare – The development of systems or culture to encourage an increase in general human physical, mental, or emotional wellbeing.
OTHER Human Welfare – Any other human welfare issues not covered by the other categories.
Child Support – Any activity or system that encourages or coerces the rightful parent of a child to maintain their financial responsibility to the raising of their offspring.
Economic Equality – Any activity that leads to development of laws or systems that encourage more equitable distribution of wealth among producers.
Education - OTHER – Any activities where an entity funds or develops systems to increase general human awareness in specific topics not covered in other categories.
Education - Evolution – Development of educational programs that encourage teaching of evolution and, secondly, alternate theories or world views, outside of the influence of any single religious group.
Education - Literacy – Any activity that encourages individuals to read and to learn to read.
Education - Sex Education – Any activity that encourages the teaching of age appropriate information regarding sexuality in order to reduce the instance of unintended pregnancy.
Medical Advancement - OTHER – Any medical advancements not covered in the other categories.
Medical Advancement - Cancer Research – Any activity that encourages the development of medical solutions to cure cancer.
Medical Advancement - Heart Disease Research – Any activity that encourages the development of medical solutions to cure heart disease.
Medical Advancement - AIDS Research – Any activity that encourages the development of medical solutions to cure the AIDS epidemic.
Medical Advancement - Cloning – Any activity that encourages the development of medical advancements to perfect the cloning process as a way to develop replacement organs or for other reasons.
Medical Advancement - Stem Cell Research – Any activity that is encouraged that develops the medical advancements necessary to perfect the stem cell reproduction process.
Nature Abuse – The destruction of the natural environment.
OTHER Nature Abuse – Any nature abuse not covered in the other categories.
Air Pollution – Any activity an entity engages in that leads to irresponsible or environmentally dangerous disposal of non-nuclear materials into the air.
Animal Abuse - OTHER – Any other animal abuse not covered in the other categories.
Animal Abuse - Experimentation – Any activity that encourages experimentation on animals that is detrimental to their health and wellbeing.
Animal Abuse - Hunting – Any activity that leads to or encourages an entity to hunt, fish or otherwise capture animals in the environment for sport, valuable commodities, or in the production of food.
Animal Abuse - Incarceration – Any activity that leads to animals being held against their natural instincts in cages or other restraining devices.
Climate Change – Any activity an entity engages in that encourages the irresponsible management of the environment, particularly when that activity increases the risk of a future catastrophic negative change in the environment as agreed upon by some scientists according to the prevailing theory of 'climate change'.
Nuclear Pollution – Any activity an entity engages in that leads to irresponsible or environmentally dangerous disposal of nuclear materials.
Waste Mismanagement – Any activity an entity engages in that leads to irresponsible disposal of non-nuclear waste products.
Political Activity – Any belief system that describes the methods or philosophy of how a society should operate.
Communist – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the communist view of politics.
Democrat – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the democratic view of politics.
Green – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the 'green party' view of politics.
Libertarian – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the libertarian view of politics.
Republican – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the republican view of politics.
Socialist – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the socialist view of politics.
OTHER Political Activity – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of a certain political view not covered in the other categories.
Anarchist – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the anarchist view of politics.
Religious Activity – Any belief system that describes the methods or philosophy of how individuals should behave within a society.
Buddhist – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the Buddhist religion.
Catholic – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the Catholic religion.
Christian - Evangelical – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the various Christian Evangelical religions.
Hindu – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the Hindu religion.
Jewish – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the Judaic religion.
Islamic – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of the Islamic religion.
OTHER Religious Activity – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices the beliefs of any religion not covered in the other categories.
Nonreligious – Any activity that benefits or encourages any entity that espouses or practices belief in no religion, typically this refers to atheism and agnosticism, among others.
Worker Rights – The rights of a worker to be treated fairly and ethically.
OTHER Worker Rights – Any worker rights not covered by the other categories.
Equitable Pay – Any activity that encourages the creation within a company or entity of a pay scale that does not excessively punish or reward those at the extremes of the wage scale.
Health and Safety Controls – Any activity that encourages the development of a system and procedures to protect workers from excess danger in the course of their work.
Pensions – Any activity that encourages the protection or development of a worker pension program or system.
Social Security – Any activity related to strengthening or maintaining the current social security system for future generations of workers.
Unions – Any activity that encourages the formation of organizations to handle creation of equitable salary, benefits and workplace conditions.
Whistleblower Protection – Any activity that provides the support systems and legal protections to encourage the emergence of whistleblowers in the workplace.
Work-Life Balance – Any activity that encourages the development of a humane workweek that allows individuals to engage in a productive life outside of their workplace.