As many of our systems and institutions change these days, they challenge our long-held assumptions and make us rethink the way we do just about everything - even simple things like buying dish soap or sneakers.

If you think there's nothing you don't know about online shopping by now, let me you clue you in on the next level, courtesy of Maryclaire Manard.

Maryclaire is founder of Cluey Consumer, an online platform that enables internet and IRL shoppers to practice conscious consumerism by providing them with easy, accessible data that measures a company’s impact on people, politics, and the planet.

The platform is free, and lets users create customized platforms that include the values they prioritize and the brands they currently use. Cluey then lets a user know if their brands are misaligned with their own values, which, in theory could cause them to change their buying patterns, which, in turn, could force companies to change their behavior.

Maryclaire launched Cluey in the summer of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. Before that she graduated from Vanderbilt and spent much of the past decade working in media- and consulting. With the current generation's focus on ethically-produced and green, sustainable products, and businesses' awareness of the need to respond to market demands and be good corporate citizens, Cluey Consumer is the right tool at the right time.

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show by Erik Otts at itsbatonrouge.la

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