Ah, technology. A blessing and a curse in equal measure.
Know what? Apps are one of my favorite parts of modern household technology.
I WANT TO HAVE THEM ALL and spend my day going from one to the next. But my phone storage strongly disagrees, and so do my schedule and my adult-ish responsibilities.
But look, in this life there are apps that make you lose time, and there are apps with a purpose.
And today we’re going to talk about the latter – but still, if you wanna lose some time check out my Instagram #shamelessselfpromo.
There are countless websites and apps with the only, exclusive, unique goal of making our planet a better place in many different ways.
Sustainability Apps to Greenify Your Life
1. Forest: be productive and plant trees
As a productivity freak, I love this app.
The first time I heard about it was on a YouTube video about how to stay productive. I’m not sure if back then they were planting trees, but now that they do, there’s no reason not to give it a whirl.
How does it work?
It basically keeps you from browsing the internet and scrolling through social media when you should be working – or doing anything that requires you being away from your phone or your laptop, like being present or spending time with your loved ones.
So you set a blacklist with the websites you need to avoid, and the app blocks them for the time you set.
If you manage to spend that time without lifting the block, you’ll have planted a tree in your little virtual forest, BUT ALSO you’ll have helped plant a real tree in a real forest.
They have partnered with an NGO called Trees for the Future, and every time you plant trees on the app or spend their little virtual coins, they donate money for their partner to plant trees.
2. Fill it forward: reuse your bottle and give clean water
This app encourages you to use your reusable bottle, thus diverting plastic from landfills AND gives water to people in need every time you use it.
And it reminds you to stay hydrated. Can we ask for more?
How does it work?
It’s super duper simple. You just have to buy a tag from their online shop and stick to your bottle or cup.
Every time you refill your bottle represents one single-use item you have “saved”. So you scan the tag with each refill in order to keep track of your personal contribution and to donate water to someone in need.
When you use their app, you can actually see the total amount of plastic, emissions, waste, and energy you have saved with your personal use of a reusable bottle or cup.
3. Thredup: buy second hand from your phone
We’re talking here about the biggest online thrift and consignment store.
They have a ton of curated pieces coming in every day, so you’ll be able to find exactly what you’re looking for for a great price.
And now that second hand shopping is all the rage, it’s awesome that we have an app that lets us all have access to great curated styles, no matter where we live.
If you want to learn more about sustainable fashion and why thrifting is GREAT, check out my series Sustainable Fashion 101.
4. Oroeco: reduce your carbon footprint
Oroeco helps you calculate your carbon footprint and shows you how to take action in order to reduce it.
I love this app because it’s very dynamic and it turns having a low carbon footprint into a competition.
You can compare your footprint to that of your neighbors and friends, and do your best to reduce it – if we’re gonna get aggressively competitive about something, let it be having the lowest footprint possible 😉
Oh! And if you’re into the idea of getting some carbon offsets, Oroeco helps you find the best ones for you.
Do you want to learn more about how to reduce your carbon footprint? Read this post!
5. Olio: fight food waste by sharing
If you HATE WITH A PASSION throwing food away – I cringe just by writing it – this app is for you.
Their goal is to reduce food waste to an absolute minimum by connecting neighbours and people in the same areas (and their fridges), and even local businesses.
How does it work?
Imagine that you’re going on a week-long trip tomorrow, but you still have veggies in your fridge. And we don’t like wasting food here, do we?
So you log into Olio, snap a pic of those peppers, list them, set a pick up place, and whenever you have a request, accept it and rejoice that your greens didn’t go to waste AND will find their rightful place in someone’s enchiladas. Everybody wins.
They have almost 2 million users all over the world, and they have saved more than 3 million portions of food.
More about how to reduce your waste here!
6. 1 Million Women: take a pledge and join a community
Do you know about climate pledges?
1 Million women is all about that. You take a pledge about how much CO2 you want to save in one year.
And then, every day by putting into practice and logging in different activities that reduce your carbon footprint, the apps sums all your efforts up towards the goal you set for yourself.
This is an app that I personally have been using for a long time, and I gotta say it’s super empowering and motivating having a community of like-minded women making an effort for the same cause.
7. Share the Meal
This is an official App by the United Nations – you know I love me some UN talk.
Its goal is getting a step closer to end hunger in the world – or at least relieving certain areas in crisis or state of emergency due to wars, massive migration, or natural disasters.
And it’s as easy as donating 0.50 $. Believe it or not, that amount can feed a kid for a day.
You can check some info about how much they’ve helped children all over the world during the last years here on their website. It’s truly inspiring.
So tell me, is your favorite app on this list?
What other sustainability apps do you use? We would love to discover new ones, so tell us down in the comments!
Hi… that was great stuff.. I really like this subject. Could you tell me more … I would love to explore.
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