Dow Jones Sustainability United States Index

You want to invest in stocks, but you're worried about some of the bad, pollutey stuff that companies sometimes do. Dumping toxic waste into rivers. Locking employees into factories. Naming the CEO's cousin Irvin as head of corporate governance.

You don't want to research individual companies. You just want to buy an index that only includes companies that have good reputations on things like the environment, or labor practices, or corporate governance.

Enter the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. The "sustainability" part refers to the companies' reputations for a long-term outlook. It includes things like environmental sustainability, corporate governance, and labor relations.

There are actually a bunch of Dow Sustainability Indices, each covering a different geographic region. The Dow Jones Sustainability United States Index covers U.S. stocks. As of 2018, it included companies like GM, Bank of America, and Nike.