May 2020 be the year that we all wake up to how our dollars spent can either be for the people or against the people. Social media has enabled us to amplify whistleblowers at companies with toxic work cultures; to share square graphics listing retail giants that bankroll political campaigns; to view footage of how employers are responding to the global pandemic. The people are crowdsourcing valuable information that have influenced and changed our buying habits. Now, more than ever, we have questions.What do these businesses stand for? How are they participating in oppression? Do they value their employees’ lives over profit in the midst of a pandemic? It goes on.

What once might have been a simple choice to go out and buy groceries now requires a research degree. Instead of embarking on a Twitter deep-dive, searching geotags, hashtags and Yelp (the final frontier) to ensure no workers have been literally neglected to death, there is an app for that.  

The PerSus app claims to solve all these problems. PerSus essentially creates a crowdsourcing platform specifically targeted for ethical consumers. Skip the one-star reviews from the Karens of TripAdvisor and cut to the chase. PerSus users can rate and review local retail stores, recognizable brands and other companies by answering an impact questionnaire. The app allows you to read reviews from employees and customers themselves. 

Once a business has received  enough reviews, the Persus app then generates a dynamic sustainability score, which can fluctuate over time.

The Persus app will also allow users to filter through local businesses based on interests that are important to them, like all-gender restrooms, local owned businesses, plastic-free takeout and more. 

Want to be one of the first people to try the app? Follow to get updates here.