FAQs

how etheco works

about etheco

etheco is built differently. Most comparison and switching sites maximise their earnings by steering you toward providers that pay the highest commission and often exclude those that don’t pay commissions. Their rankings can be distorted by commercial relationships, not quality or ethics. Many also hide their methodology entirely.

etheco is different in three important ways. First, our ratings methodology is honest, transparent and never influenced by any partner relationship we may have to help us fund our activities. Second, our content (including guides, reviews, news and views) is completely independent and not impacted whatsoever by any partnership we may have. Third, we measure the real social and environmental impact of every switch, not just the price.

We’re also building guided switching flows directly into the platform, so you can act on what you learn without having to navigate away to another site.

Yes. etheco is completely free for consumers. Browsing, ratings, guides and switching tools are all available without charge. We cover our costs through partnerships (which are always clearly labelled and never influence our ratings or editorial content) with businesses that share our values and through helping businesses to become more ethical and eco-friendly in everything they do.

etheco was founded by Jason Hollingsworth and is led by a small, hand-picked team of professionals who share a genuine commitment to making ethical and eco-friendly consumer choices simple. The founding team brings decades of combined experience across finance, journalism, creative direction, technology and sustainability. You can read much more about each of us on the Our Team page.

Trust is the foundation of everything we do, and independence is at the heart of our ethos.  Any partnership or relationship we have or develop will never influence how we evaluate goods and services.

We always practice what we advocate by holding ourselves to the same standards we hold others to. Every penny we spend and every relationship we develop is assessed against the same 4Ps framework we use to rate the businesses.

At etheco, we bank with Triodos and Nationwide (formally Virgin Money), both widely regarded as being in the top tier in UK ethical banking. Our insurance is with Naturesave, the UK’s leading ethical insurer. Our website runs on Green Hosting, powered by 100% renewable energy. We’re also a member of 1% for the Planet – committing at least one per cent of our annual revenue to environmental causes, and we are looking to put Nature on our Board.

Every member of the etheco team has completed a personal ethical assessment covering their banking, insurance, energy, pension, diet and lifestyle choices.  We are all striving to make better choices wherever we can.

Where we can’t yet meet the highest standard we aspire to, we say so openly. We believe transparency about where you’re falling short is just as important as celebrating where you’re getting it right.

etheco ratings

The etheco cosmos is how we display ratings visually. The central etheco score sits at the heart, with orbiting planets representing each of the 4Ps. The etheco score represents a weighted average of each of the four pillars.

At a glance, you can see not just the overall rating but where a company’s strengths and weaknesses lie.

 

The etheco score and each pillar is colour-coded: green for good, amber for average, red for poor. Listings in the directory are ranked by etheco score, highest first, lowest last.

Coming soon – in the near future, you’ll also be able to adjust the weighting of the four pillars to reflect your own priorities. If Planet matters more to you than Pocket, drag the Planet orbit outward and the rankings will reorder to match your values. Your adjusted cosmos becomes your personal lens on the etheco directory, based on what matters most to you.

PillarWhat we assessWeight
PeopleWorkers’ rights and fair pay, community investment, governance and transparency, diversity and inclusion and supply chain ethics.35%
PlanetCarbon and climate commitments, environmental certifications, waste reduction and circular design, biodiversity and the product’s lifespan.35%
PocketAffordability, pricing transparency, total cost of ownership, warranty, ongoing charges and whether the ethical option is genuinely accessible.15%
PerformanceCustomer satisfaction, complaints process, industry awards, terms and conditions fairness and product or service claims.15%

 

People and Planet together carry 70% of the score, so a company can’t achieve a high etheco rating on consumer appeal alone. But being ethical isn’t enough either – companies also need to deliver genuine value and quality. That’s where Pocket and Performance come in.

Pocket is a key differentiator for etheco. Most rating platforms don’t factor in pricing or consumer value at all. We think that’s a mistake. If ethical living is only accessible to people with premium budgets, it will never go mainstream.

Businesses that meet our minimum threshold can progress towards Verified by etheco status (coming soon).

The overall etheco score is a weighted average of the four pillar scores:

(People × 0.35) + (Planet × 0.35) + (Pocket × 0.15) + (Performance × 0.15)

As per the table above, within each pillar, businesses are assessed against a set of specific criteria. People, Planet and Pocket each have five criteria (scored 0–20); Performance has four (scored 0–25). For example, the People pillar looks individually at workers’ rights, community impact, governance, diversity, and ethical supply chain – rather than relying on a single headline number.

Bonus points are awarded for key accreditations such as B Corp certification, and penalties are applied for regulatory breaches, fines or legal action. Some accreditations – like B Corp scores – feed into more than one pillar, because their assessments span social, environmental and consumer dimensions.

The quality of an etheco rating depends entirely on the quality of the data behind it. We draw on five tiers, ranked by reliability and independence – the higher the tier, the more weight it carries in our algorithm:

  • Tier 1 – Regulatory and open data. Publicly available data from regulators and government bodies – for example, FCA complaint data, Ofgem performance data, and gender pay gap filings. This is our most reliable layer: standardised, comparable, and difficult to game.
  • Tier 2 – Independent accreditations. Certifications from recognised bodies such as B Lab, Fairtrade, the Soil Association and the Living Wage Foundation. These are highly credible binary signals, with a company either holding them or not.
  • Tier 3 – Third-party ratings. Assessments from organisations such as Ethical Consumer and the Good Shopping Guide. Independently researched with robust methodologies.
  • Tier 4 – Consumer sentiment. Customer reviews, complaint volumes and satisfaction data from platforms including Trustpilot and Google Reviews. These are directional indicators, using review volume as a signal of confidence.
  • Tier 5 – Self-reported data. Information published by the companies themselves, such as annual reports and sustainability disclosures. Useful for filling gaps but carries the lowest weighting – no company can score highly on the strength of its own marketing alone.

We currently source and use publicly available data. We’re also developing data partnerships to enable more granular scoring over time.

It depends on the data. Some sources – like consumer trust scores – will be updated more regularly than say data published quarterly, which will be updated soon after release. As a minimum, every component of our ratings is reviewed at least once a year. As our proprietary etheco ‘brain’ is enhanced, our aim is to utilise as much real-time information as possible.

Where a material event occurs – such as a company losing its B Corp status, a regulatory enforcement action, or a change of ownership – we may trigger an earlier review. The aim is for ratings to reflect both a company’s long-term track record and any significant recent developments.

impact & social value

In the business startup world, a unicorn is a company valued at over £1 billion. At etheco, we’re chasing a different kind of billion. Our ambition is to become a social unicorn – a movement capable of generating £1 billion of measurable social and environmental value through the collective choices of our community.

Every switch adds to etheco‘s live running total – a live counter, ticking toward £1 billion of proven social good (coming soon).

We’re developing a robust methodology to calculate the real-world impact of every switch made through etheco. That means putting a genuine pound value on the social and environmental change created when someone swaps a product or service for a better alternative.

We measure impact across the same four pillars that drive our ratings: the benefit to People, the benefit to the Planet, the value to your Pocket, and the Performance of the alternative you’ve switched to. The methodology draws on established frameworks including HM Treasury’s Green Book, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), the HACT Social Value Bank and WELLBY (Wellbeing-Adjusted Life Years).

We’ll share more detail on the methodology as it develops. We want to get this right, and we’d rather take the time to build something credible than rush out something that doesn’t stand up.

Yes – that’s the plan. As a member of the etheco community, you’ll be able to see your personal impact grow over time. Every switch you make will show you exactly what changed as a result: the carbon emissions avoided, the ethical businesses supported, the money redirected toward good. We’re keen to uncover and celebrate the real impact that individual choices can make. They really do matter, and together they can create profound change.

We’re a member of 1% for the Planet (see below), committing at least one per cent of our annual revenue to environmental causes. As our community grows, so does the total value we generate. Together, those contributions create and even greater positive impact. In addition, etheco is looking to appoint Nature on our Board.

1% for the Planet is a global network of businesses that commit at least one per cent of their annual sales to environmental causes. It was founded in 2002 by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and Blue Ribbon Flies founder Craig Mathews, and today it includes thousands of companies across more than 60 industries, supporting environmental projects in over 110 countries.

etheco is a member of 1% for the Planet because we believe that businesses should give back to the environment, not just talk about it.

Every significant decision a business makes has consequences for the natural world. Who you bank with, who you partner with, what you build and how you build it. We think those consequences deserve a permanent, protected voice at the table – not a footnote in the annual report, or a values statement on the wall, but a governance role with real weight.

This isn’t a new idea. The Whanganui River in New Zealand was granted legal personhood in 2017, with two human guardians appointed to act on its behalf. Ecuador wrote the rights of nature into its national constitution back in 2008. And in the UK, Faith in Nature became the first company in the world to formally appoint Nature as a board director in 2022 – amending their articles of association so that environmental interests have a constitutionally protected voice in every board decision.

etheco intends to do the same.

While we work towards the legal changes required to do this formally, Robbie Sloan – our Ethics & Integrity Architect, qualified nature therapist and the volunteer creative director behind the Heal Rewilding project in Somerset – currently holds that responsibility at board level. His role formally includes representing the interests of the natural world to bring ecological integrity to every decision we make. He also ensures etheco meets the highest possible ethical standards in everything we do.

etheco now – features & tools explained

The etheco directory is the foundation for guided switching – a tool we’re building that will rate every provider in the UK market and help you switch quickly and easily. The directory you see today is a shortlist of providers you can confidently trust and switch to now.

The directory is the result of extensive research to identify the best providers serving UK consumers today. We combined four sources of evidence to build our shortlist: recognised ethical accreditations, verified consumer trust signals, industry awards and recognition and the etheco team’s own long-standing knowledge of providers we know and trust. Across banking, energy, broadband, insurance, food, fashion, home goods and beyond, the result is a curated directory of UK providers you can confidently switch to today – not a comprehensive list of every ethical brand, but a considered shortlist we stand behind.

Every provider in the directory is scored using our 4Ps framework – an algorithm that assesses each company across four weighted pillars: People (35%), Planet (35%), Pocket (15%), and Performance (15%). Each pillar is scored out of 100 based on five sub-criteria, drawing on the independent certifications, regulatory records, ownership data and consumer-experience sources described above. The four pillar scores are then combined into a single etheco Score out of 100, giving you a clear at-a-glance measure of how each provider performs across ethical credentials, consumer value and customer experience. The 70/30 weighting between ethics (People + Planet) and consumer factors (Pocket + Performance) is deliberate: a provider that’s deeply ethical but uncompetitive on price or delivering poor service isn’t a realistic switch for most households, and we won’t pretend otherwise.

To appear in the etheco directory, a provider must score at least 50 out of 100 on each of the four Ps as well as achieve an overall etheco Score of at least 50. This dual threshold matters. A high overall score alone isn’t enough: if a provider excels on ethics but scores poorly on customer experience, or delivers great value but has weak environmental credentials, it doesn’t meet our standard. A provider must be credible on all four dimensions to qualify. The overall etheco score tells you at a glance how confident we are in a provider; the underlying 4Ps scores show you where they excel and where they have work to do.

The directory spans 8 main categories:

We’re expanding into new categories as the directory grows – if there’s a sector you’d particularly like to see covered, drop us a line and let us know – hello@etheco.com.

 

coming soon – new features & tools in the pipeline

Making an ethical switch is one of the most powerful things you can do, and we want to make it as easy as possible.

  • Guided switching walks you through the process of moving to a better bank, energy provider or other service, step by step.
  • We show you the ethical alternative, explain why it’s better, and take you straight to it – no endless research, no dead ends.
  • Every switch you make sends a signal. We help you make it count.

Every time you make an ethical switch, something real changes – and we think you deserve to see exactly what those changes are.

  • Your impact tracker records every switch you make and translates it into tangible outcomes: carbon avoided, fairer wages supported, harmful industries defunded.
  • Watch your impact grow over time and see how your choices are adding up.
  • Because doing good should feel as good as it actually is.

Ethical choices are more powerful when they’re made together.

  • See what the etheco community is doing collectively – the switches being made, the impact being created, the momentum that’s building.
  • Share your own switches, celebrate milestones and inspire the people around you.
  • Our goal is £1 billion of real social and environmental impact. The community features make that goal visible – and show you your part in it.

At  etheco  we believe that our community is at the heart of everything we do, which is why we think everyone who supports us deserves something special.

  • Get early access to every new tool and feature before anyone else.
  • Have a direct say in what we build next – your feedback shapes the product.
  • Exclusive content, recognition and rewards for being part of the etheco story.

Most of us have no idea of the environmental and social cost buried in our everyday spending – your bank, your pension, your energy provider, your weekly shop.

  • The etheco footprint tool maps it all, giving you a personalised score that shows your real impact across People, Planet, Performance and Pocket.
  • It then tells you where the biggest wins are – the two or three switches that would move the needle most, ranked by impact.
  • Not guilt. Not guesswork. Just clear, honest insight – and a straightforward path to doing better.

The etheco cosmos is our way of showing a brand’s score that goes beyond a single number.

  • The four Ps orbit a central score, each sized and coloured to show how a company performs across every dimension.
  • The clever bit: you can customise it. Weight the Ps that matter most to you and every score on etheco adjusts to reflect your priorities.
  • Your values. Your view. Your etheco.

Got an ethical dilemma? Ethena has the answer.

  • She’s etheco‘s advisor – a knowledgeable, friendly guide you can ask anything, from ‘which bank is best for the planet?’ to ‘is it more ethical to fly or take the train?’
  • Every answer is grounded in etheco‘s own ratings, research and 4Ps framework – so you get guidance that’s balanced, honest and genuinely useful.
  • Think of her as the ethical expert you always wished you had in your pocket.

using etheco

We never share or sell your personal data. Full stop. You can read the full details in our Privacy Policy, but the short version is this: your data is yours. We collect only what we need to make the platform work, we store it securely, and we don’t share it with anyone for commercial purposes. Pease see our data and privacy policy.

We’ve tried to keep them as concise, simple and clear as possible. You can read them here.

etheco’s business model

No. Never. Our listings and any ranking or recommendation we make are based entirely on merit and our assessment of quality, ethics and impact. Whether or not we have a referral relationship with a provider has zero influence on their placement or visibility in our directory.

We believe in full transparency. Any listing where we hold a referral partnership is clearly marked with an ‘etheco partner’ badge. You can click or tap the badge at any time to learn more about what this means.

 

No. Any referral fee or commission we receive is paid by the provider, not by you. The price you pay is the same whether you come via etheco or go directly to the provider.

Trust is at the heart of everything we do. We are transparent about how we are funded, we clearly disclose all referral partnerships and we maintain strict editorial independence. We practise what we preach – holding ourselves to the same ethical standards we expect of the organisations in our directory.

We will only partner with businesses that meet our ethical standards and achieve an etheco score above our inclusion thresholds under the 4Ps framework. We will not partner with a business just because it offers a generous commission.

Never. Every listing in the directory is selected by us because of its ethical and eco-credentials. The vast majority of businesses we list or write about have no commercial relationship with us at all. A listing or article is based on merit, and it stays that way.

Yes – and most are. The directory is an editorially curated database. Businesses are included because they meet our criteria, not because they pay us. Partnership is an optional, additional relationship that some listed businesses choose to enter into.

Visit our Partners page or email partners@etheco.com. We’ll walk you through how the process works, what the criteria are, and what you can expect. There’s no pressure and no obligation and the conversation always starts with whether you meet our ethical standards, not with the commercial terms.

getting involved and in touch

When you sign up to etheco, here’s what you get:

  • A monthly update – the latest news, opinion pieces, product reviews and ethical living guides from the etheco team.
  • Priority access to your own etheco account – we’re building personal accounts that will let you measure and track your switches, see your impact grow over time and build a picture of your ethical footprint.
  • Early access to new tools – be the first to test new features and functionality as we roll them out, from our switching engine to the ethical footprint calculator.

There are several ways to get involved, depending on what feels right for you:

  • If you’re an influencer or content creator, we’d love to explore how we might work together. Whether that’s collaborating on content, sharing our tools with your audience or co-creating campaigns, get in touch at partners@etheco.com.
  • If you want to partner with us, whether you’re a business, a charity, an accreditation body or a research organisation, visit our Partners page or email partners@etheco.com.
  • If you want to feature etheco in your publication, blog or website, we’re always happy to talk. Drop us a line at hello@etheco.com.

etheco supporters who become members of our community will get:

  • Early access to beta tools as they’re rolled out, including our switching engine, footprint calculator and personal impact tracker.
  • A member badge, plus special offers from selected etheco partners.
  • Monthly updates with the latest news, views and guides.
  • Have your say – the chance to help shape etheco by providing feedback on new features, content and direction. Completely optional, but genuinely valued.
  • etheco community member offers, discounts and rewards

Community membership is free. It’s our way of recognising the people who believe in what we’re building. Sign up here and you’ll be invited to join.

Whether you’d like to contribute, collaborate or simply say hello, we’d love to hear from you. You can reach us at hello@etheco.com for general enquiries, partners@etheco.com if you’re a business interested in a referral partnership, or through the contact form on our website. We’re a small team, but we read every message and we aim to respond within two working days.

We’d love to hear it. Send it to hello@etheco.com or use the feedback form on the website. Whether it’s a sector you’d like us to cover, a feature you’d find useful or a business you think we should know about – we’re genuinely interested.

Yes – and we’re always grateful for the interest! etheco is currently looking to raise funding, and we’d be happy to share more information with potential investors, including our investor prospectus and details of our next funding round, coming soon! We have successfully secured advanced SEIS/EIS assurance from HMRC, which may offer tax relief benefits to eligible investors.

If you’d like to find out more, please get in touch at hello@etheco.com and we’ll arrange a conversation.

more about etheco

etheco is a private limited company registered in the United Kingdom. You can find our full company details on Companies House.

etheco was incorporated as a UK private limited company in August 2020 and after many years of research and development, it is now in its launch phase. You can read the full story of how and why etheco came into being on the Our Story page.

At etheco , we believe we’re stronger when we work together. That’s why we’re always looking to build partnerships with organisations that share our values and our ambition to create positive change. By collaborating with like-minded people, we can learn from one another, achieve more and avoid duplicating effort. The challenges facing people and the planet are too important to tackle alone, and too urgent to put off. By joining forces, we can help accelerate the shift towards a fairer, more sustainable future because positive change can’t wait.

We’re already working with a growing network of organisations, including data providers, accreditation bodies, universities, researchers and industry experts. As etheco grows, so too will our partnerships, helping us build an even stronger, more trusted platform for everyone. If you share our values and think we could achieve more together, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch by email at hello@etheco.com