Going green isn’t always the easiest thing to do – especially for those of us living in huge, urban cities. Luckily, eco-consciousness is intersecting with technology in whole new ways to bring the information and movement right to our smartphones.
Take a look at these 5 apps that can help us all be a little kinder to the planet:
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Go Green
Being environmentally friendly isn’t just a trend anymore; sure, we may not all be able to afford to buy organic-everything, but there are definitely more ways than we may realize to help.
Each time you open the app, Go Green gives you a new tip on how to be more environmental – and the tips don’t all just state the obvious. We all already know to throw our plastic bottles in the recycling, but we may not realize something like: washing clothes in cold water eliminates two pounds of CO? per load. By putting some of their facts into perspective like so, it becomes really relatable and shareable among its users.
[Android / iOS]
iRecycle
iRecycle is designed to help you learn which materials can be recycled, and how to go about doing it. With more than 1,600,000 ways to recycle over 350 materials, recycling has never been so easy.
Even for the most eco-friendly of the bunch, there will always be that one ambiguous-material bottle that you’re unsure of (is it polystyrene? Micro-fiber?). iRecycle is nicely color-coded so that you simply select a material and then choose which specific type it is you’re asking about. According to your zip code, you’ll be directed straight to a place that takes it!
Because we can’t know everything – but our smartphones sure can.
[Android / iOS]
GoodGuide
Ever find yourself shopping and wonder what the hell you’re doing? If you just glance at certain labels and see ORGANIC in big bold letters, you think, well, this product must be great, right?
Wrong. A lot of fine print is written around marketing bait like that. If you just slow down to look, you’ll see that what it actually says is: We are making it our goal to use mostly ORGANIC products. And another one bites the dust.
Thankfully, GoodGuide has been designed to rescue us during moments like these. With a huge database of over 200,000 products, it is incredibly easy to scan, search, and browse the products that you care most about. You are able to find a “rating” for each item according to a number of different factors that will tell you how healthy, green, and responsible each one is.
[Android / iOS]
DIY Garden Ideas
For the ambitious of the bunch, DIY Garden Ideas is an Android app to give you innovative and creative ways to create an organic garden for yourself. Growing your own, non-GMO organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs – if accessible – is always preferable.
With extensive How-to steps, you can get dozens and dozens of ideas on how to create your own amazing garden that takes up little-to-no space. Even if you’re not a DIY-kind of person, this app makes it simple, straightforward, and easy to create your own green escape!
[Android]
Farmstand
If creating your own garden isn’t exactly for you, Farmstand can let you know exactly where to go to buy your fresh food products. By simply plugging in your zip code, Farmstand will show you the closest farmers markets to you, their hours, and even give you easy directions there.
One of the highlights is the reviews and photos for each of the hot spots and the ability to comment, flag, or like any of them. Think of a cross between Yelp and Facebook – but for fresh produce.
[ iOS]
So, even if you aren’t able to turn full-on hippy, grow out your armpit hair, and never use electricity again, downloading a few of these apps will surely help you save the planet – one tiny step at a time. Because ultimately, we all just want to stay groovy.
[About the Author: The article is contributed by Ashley Duvan of Fueled, a mobile app development company.]
