Learn before you buy

It's hard out here for a consumer. Faced with endless options for the latest and coolest, we can be overwhelmed just by the selection, even before considering the impact our choices have on the planet.

The Worldwatch Institute helps simplify what seems like a staggering task.

The group created Good Stuff - A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy, which can make you a more informed shopper during the holidays and around the year.

Plus, if you've been meaning to switch to energy-conserving light bulbs or safe household cleansers, this is the perfect excuse to sit down and scan through the topics that concern you most.

From chocolate to coffee, cell phones to computers, paper to gold jewelry—every category provides information on the stuff's environmental and social blowback.

Don't know fair trade from green procurement? The glossary will make it all crystal-water clear.

Think you already know it all? Take the quiz and see.

And if you're ready to be a whole new kind of consumer, memorize the consumption manifesto. Being responsible isn't so hard after all.

Find the original review for this site—and other reviews of the Web's coolest offerings—on Yahoo! Picks.