With all the global attention on being more environmentally friendly, going green has never been more relevant. Most of the world is now paying attention to the size of their carbon footprint. There are numerous advantages to going green beyond helping keep the planet healthy. For a long time, it was up to the individual to come up with ways to keep track of how green they were being. Thankfully, technology has come a long way and is making it simpler to live an eco-friendly life. Entire apps have been created with the sole purpose of making green living easier for users. With most American adults owning smartphones, these apps are easy to get and provide a variety of services. These apps help you track everything from water and power usage to good green habit forming. Below are 6 apps that will help you create a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
#Climate
#Climate is a non-profit created by a technology oriented community. The main purpose of the app is to point out green actions you can take to help the environment. You can set up your profile to help you find a topic you are interested in. The more interested in a topic or task you are, the more likely you are to actually complete an action. Once you complete an action, you can share it with your friends on social media. You can track the success of the action and see how many other people have done the same action creating a sense of community. The social media ties with this app gives users the reward of showing off their green good deed once it has been completed, which may spur others to do the same.
Green Habit Forming
JouleBug is an app that helps users form good green habits and has a rewards structure for doing well. The app encourages you to be more sustainable by rewarding you with points and badges for progress. You earn points for biking to work instead of driving or bringing a reusable bag to the grocery store instead of using the plastic/paper bags the store offers.
The app also aims to save you money. You can connect JouleBug to your utility bills and see how much money you save each month by going green. If you are looking for a bit of friendly competition, you can ask your friends to join the app and see who can be the most green.
Recycling Clothes
ThredUP is a fashion resale app that is essentially an online thrift shop in which people send in their lightly used clothes in exchange for store credit or cash. You can browse all the clothes available on the app from the comfort of your own home, no going to the store required. You can select exactly what clothes you want or ask for a surprise box if you want to leave it up to chance.
Better Groceries
HowGood is a grocery buying assistant app that helps you find better food to buy. You scan a product’s barcode or search for it, and the app will tell you how good something is for both you and the environment. The app has over a hundred thousand products already rated in its database. The score a product is assigned depends on community impact, how it was made or grown, and how processed the food is. This app aims to make it easier than ever to be informed about what you buy and eat. The idea is that once armed with this knowledge, you will make better decisions about groceries.
Reducing Paper Waste
No one likes junk mail, and yet we get a lot of it anyway. PaperKarma looks to fix this problem. Simply take a picture of the junk mail with your name, address, and sender information and upload it to the app. PaperKarma takes those details and unsubscribes you from that specific junk mail. This app has a free trial, but you do have to pay a subscription in order to use it long term.
Clothing Research
If you are looking to learn more about the ethics behind your favorite fashion brands, this app is here to help. Good On You is an app that allows you to look up your favorite brands and see how they rank. The ranking is based on labor practices, environmental impact, and animal rights practices. The more ethical the brand and its manufacturing, the better the ranking.
If you are looking to be more green in your everyday life, these 6 apps are here to help. Each of these apps helps you be more environmentally friendly in small ways that add up to a big difference.
