Methodology
Why we score
Most sustainability marketing is unverifiable. The purpose of the Green Swap Sustainability Scorecard is to replace adjectives with evidence: to research what a company actually does, record where every fact came from, and score it against the same rubric as every other brand of its size. We do not sell scores, brands cannot pay to be listed or improve a rating, and a commission on an affiliate link never touches a tier.
Every finding is dated and tied to a source. When a real search turns up nothing, that is recorded too. A brand that will not disclose how it handles labor rights, environmental impact, or animal welfare is flagged We Avoid, regardless of its total score.
What the scorecard covers
Ten sections, lettered A through J. The point weights below are the enterprise rubric's 300 scored points; the same sections carry proportionate weights at every company size. The heaviest weights sit on materials, climate, and labor, because that is where most of a consumer brand's real-world impact lives.
Circular Economy & Sustainable Materials
Are products designed for reuse, repair, and recycling, and made from responsibly sourced materials instead of virgin plastic and conventional fibers?
Climate & Renewable Energy
Published emissions footprints, credible reduction targets, and real renewable energy use, not just an offset purchase and a press release.
Labor Rights & Social Equity
How the people making the products are treated: audits, living wages, freedom of association, and safety across the supply chain.
Transparency & Supply Chain Data
Whether the brand publishes supplier lists, sourcing maps, and impact data that outsiders can actually check.
Business Model Integrity
Is sustainability core to how the company makes money, or a marketing layer on top of a business built on volume and disposal?
Animal Welfare
Animal-derived materials, testing policies, and certified alternatives. Scored only where animal inputs are plausible for the product category.
Certifications
Third-party certifications, weighted by rigor. Every claim is verified in the issuer's own registry; a logo on a website is a lead, never proof.
Hazardous Chemicals & Product Safety
Ingredient disclosure and restricted-substance policies. Scored only for products that are formulated, dyed, treated, or coated.
Measurable Impact & Claims Integrity
Are claims specific, quantified, and dated? Vague terms like 'eco-friendly' or 'natural' without evidence count against the brand.
Positive Impact & Regeneration
Regenerative programs, giving models, and impact beyond the brand's own footprint. Bonus points only; they can never raise a tier.
Animal Welfare (F) and Hazardous Chemicals (H) are conditional: when a category makes them structurally irrelevant, they are marked not applicable and the tier is computed on the reduced base, so no brand is punished for a section that cannot apply to it.
Four rubrics, one standard
A four-person soap company cannot commission the audits a global apparel giant can, and pretending otherwise just rewards big budgets. Brands are first sized, then scored on the rubric built for that size. A published derivation map controls exactly how each criterion adapts, so the versions stay comparable.
Global brands with full reporting capacity. Held to the complete rubric, including audited certifications and published footprints.
Established companies expected to publish real data, with allowances for the certifications only giants can afford.
Growing brands judged on disclosure and design choices realistic at their scale.
Small teams scored on what they can credibly evidence publicly, so absence of paperwork is not mistaken for absence of practice.
How tiers are earned
A brand's tier is its scored points as a percentage of the points applicable to it. The anchors are fixed, so a Tier 2 badge means the same thing for a micro brand as for an enterprise. Bonus points (section J, plus bonus certifications) sit on top of the score and can never change a tier.
The We Avoid flag overrides everything: insufficient public disclosure on labor, environment, or animal welfare earns it at any size and any score.
Where the evidence comes from
Research runs criterion by criterion, and every fact is recorded with the exact page or document it came from. We rank sources deliberately:
- Primary documents first. Sustainability and impact reports, annual reports, supplier lists, and published policies from the brand itself, read directly and dated.
- Registries over logos. A certification counts when we verify it in the issuer's own registry (B Corp directory, GOTS and Fair Trade databases, FSC, and the rest), or, where a registry check is unavailable, when the brand publicly claims a live, specific certification. Each scheme is weighted by a maintained difficulty ranking, so a rigorous audit-based certification is worth more than a pay-to-play badge.
- Independent data. Science Based Targets records, CDP disclosures, NGO investigations, and credible reporting are used to confirm or challenge what brands say about themselves.
- Aggregator ratings are pointers, never evidence. A rating on another review site can suggest where to look, but it is never itself a source.
Findings distinguish self-declared claims from third-party verification, facts older than about three years are flagged as stale, and each published scorecard carries its scoring date. Certifications are re-checked against the live reference each time a brand is scored.