The earth faces a climate emergency that’s putting future generations at high risk. Over the past years, scientists have highlighted that being eco-friendly can’t just be a hobby anymore or a side interest. But while suggestions like improving energy efficiency and restoring ecosystems might sound like massive action steps, there are various ways you can make a difference in your day-to-day habits. To make aspects of your life more sustainable, it’s best to start small and build on those changes until you’ve incorporated healthier habits. You can embark on your environmentally friendly journey in many different ways, and these accessible, mostly free sustainability apps are there to help you do that.
Olio
Download the app: https://olioex.com/
Wasted food means wasted energy, resources, and money. Food-sharing apps like Olio allow you to give your unused food to neighbors or find the food you can use yourself. Simply take a photo of the item(s) you want to share, and any neighbors who also use Olio will get an alert. Otherwise, you can browse items your neighbors are willing to share, like food, cleaning products, or other miscellaneous items. From there, connect and arrange a pickup time. Listings come up all over the world, but you may be the only one using the app near where you’re based. So a food swap may not be available, unless you get your neighbors on board, too.
PaperKarma
Download the app: https://www.paperkarma.com/
It can be easy to unsubscribe from junk mail on your Gmail account, but less so with physical mail. PaperKarma is the ultimate recycling tool. Just use the app to take a photo of the mail you no longer wish to receive, like catalogs, charity donation requests, credit card offers, or mail from a previous resident. Select the name or address to remove it from the company’s mailing list, and tap unsubscribe.
Flora
Download the app: https://flora.appfinca.com/en/
Flora is here to make it easy to take a break from screen time. Play by yourself or with friends to grow trees and learn healthy phone habits. Flora even has motivators you can set up so that when you kill a tree in the game you pay to plant one in real life.
Tickr
Download the app: https://tickr.co.uk/
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing is set to become one of the biggest trends in 2021 and the years to come. New fintech apps are making it even easier for us to invest as individuals and have more of a say in where our savings are used and what kinds of companies they are invested in.
Tickr makes it possible to start a fund with little starting investment. It only invests in companies that put the planet and people on an equal footing with profit. They want to make impact investing less scary for ordinary people – and that could be revolutionary!
Healthy Living
Download the app: https://www.ewg.org/apps/
A scanner app from the Environmental Working Group is the free Healthy Living app, which lets you scan or search food or cosmetic products to see how clean the company is, from the ingredients it uses in its products to how they’re produced. Similar to other scanner apps and websites, Healthy Living gives a green-to-red rating on ingredients, nutrition, and processing concern. Overall, you want a lower, “greener” score out of 10.
Happycow
Download the app: https://www.happycow.net/mobile
A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability says if we got rid of the production of meat and dairy we could remove up to 16 years worth of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050. Of course, going vegan isn’t an overnight decision, and you should research before making such a big change to your diet. But if you’re already a vegan or a vegetarian, Happycow is an app for iOS and Android that can help you find accommodating restaurants worldwide that might be open for takeout or delivery right now. Just download the app, or use the website, and search your city, zip code, or region. Happycow will return restaurants that are vegan, vegetarian, or have veg-friendly options.
My Plastic Diary
Download the app: https://www.myplasticdiary.co.uk
Let’s reduce our plastic waste in 2021! The My Plastic Diary app helps you record your single-use plastic consumption and shows you the breakdown of what kind of plastics you end up buying. It then suggests ways to reduce your reliance on plastic and receive awards for your progress. Knowledge is power so dive into your footprint.
These may all seem like small steps, but every conscious choice helps your personal green journey. The sustainability apps are a witty way of keeping you on track with being more environmentally friendly and they are bound to at least a little, tweak your mindset. Did you get inspired to reduce your footprint or develop an app of your own, then don’t hesitate and contact us!