How Clean is Clean?
This is where we take our jobs very seriously. We don't want to be just another marketplace for products that have fancy marketing or clean-looking names & labels. Rather, we want to be the cleanest marketplace in existence. If you buy it here you are guaranteed the product is free of harmful ingredients.
Made Safe
We believe that Made Safe has the strictest criteria in the world. They take an ecosystem based approach to ingredient safety. Starting with 6500 banned or restricted ingredients then evaluating anything not on that list for environmental persistence, bioaccumulation, aquatic toxicity, human toxicity, terrestrial toxicity, and risk of contamination during manufacturing. The products that make it through this rigor are indeed, Made Safe. This ensures a safe and sustainable future for all.
EWG
EWG, environmental working group, is a highly regarded non-profit that exists to put public health and safety at the forefront. They research, evaluate products, and advocate for policy change. EWGs teams of scientists have evaluated 100s of 1000s of ingredients and products. We prioritize products with full EWG verification, their highest rating you can read more about that here. For personal products, we will include products with green ratings of 1 or 2 in the skin deep database of over 97,600 products. For household products, we will include green ratings of A or B in the healthy cleaning database of over 2,500 products.
Free Living Co
In some cases, products haven't been reviewed or certified by Made Safe or EWG as it can be costly especially to smaller producers. In this case we will evaluate the products. First, we know the owners and founders & fully understand the product's intent and ingredient selection. The product must not include anything on the unacceptable list and meet requirements on the restricted list. Bear in mind our stamp of approval means the products have been evaluated for the exclusion of harmful ingredients and what we deem to be earth-consciousness practices. Our review is not a scientific approach as is Made Safe or EWG Verification. Products that are evaluated by us are clearly indicated with a Free Living Co Verified emblem on the product page.
Products
For categories of products that are not evaluated by Made Safe or EWG like EMF radiation-reducing bags, yoga mats, and jewelry. We take a deep dive into the producer. In most cases this means we know the founders personally and/or we have paid a visit to their headquarters with the intent to fully understand the ethos of the company, the manufacturing practices, the materials used, and the packaging. We ensure that any marketing claims are substantiated. We prioritize products that contain safe materials and have a eco-friendly component: organic, recycled, recyclable, upcycled, reusable, refillable, biodegradable, and compostable are all features we look for. We ensure that the company is mindful of its footprint on Earth. We love companies that are founded by or employ diverse humans and those who give back in some form or fashion.
