How we vet

Every product on our shelf was vetted before it got there. Here is what that means.

We check the maker first. Before we order anything, we look at the brand behind it: what its products are made of, how openly it describes them, how and where they are made, the certifications it holds, and whether it is independently owned. Every brand we carry today is independently owned.

Then we check the product in our hands. Nothing gets a shelf on the strength of a product page. We open the box and look at every part, because a material that isn't mentioned isn't the same as a material that isn't there.

If a claim can't be verified, we don't repeat it. The product can still earn a spot, it just doesn't get credit for that claim.

Certificates count when we can check them. We look each one up on the certifier's own registry. Certifications earn credit, but they are never the price of entry, so a small maker isn't shut out for paperwork they can't afford.

Honest labels. Our glass straws are glass, but the cleaning brush that comes with them has nylon bristles, so we don't call them plastic free. We say so on the listing.

Where it's made, product by product. We say where each product is made in the maker's own words: printed in Connecticut, sewn in California, handmade in Washington.

Impact figures show their working. One glass straw replaces 365 plastic straws a year, assuming one plastic straw a day. Every figure comes with the assumption behind it.

Questions about any product? Write to us at hello@myecomark.com.