Have fun while saving the planet!
It’s important to try to take some responsibility for the world and the environment we live in. In a time where climate change becomes a more pressing issue, we fail to realize that are individual contributions have a huge effect on the bigger picture. These are some apps that you can use to challenge yourself and have fun while saving the planet!
The idea behind this app is to make reducing your carbon footprint fun and easy. Users answer questions about how often they drive, take public transit, eat local food and other issues that could increase their carbon footprint. The app then compares your carbon footprint against any friends you may have who are also using the app.
Additionally, the app offers advice on how to lower your impact and even how to purchase carbon offsets.
Dropcountr connects up to your utilities, informing you of how you’re consuming water. The app keeps track of how many gallons you use on a yearly, monthly, weekly or even daily basis. It then lets you know how this relates to other households near you, and encourages you to live more frugally. You can even check out exclusive rebate savings through the app.
Buycott can be a really useful app for conscientious consumers. The app will scan barcodes on products and give the user information about the company behind it. The database is not complete, but there is definitely a lot of information regarding medium- and large-sized companies.
You can find out if the company behind the product tests on animals, uses prison labor or other practices you may not want to support with your purchases.
Have you ever seen a plant or an animal and wanted to show others how cool it was? iNaturalist allows users to take a picture of the item in question and describe it on the app to help further biodiversity science. The app then shares the user’s findings with scientific data collection institutions, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, “to help scientists find and use your data” to “understand when are where organisms occur.” You can also join a Project, with a goal that interests you, or start your own Project, a way to connect with other people and share your observations, often with a particular geographical and/or species area of focus. In addition to Projects, Bioblitzes, events where users attempt to find and document as many species as they can, are also hosted on the app.
We all know about the dangers of overfishing, but not how to personally avoid contributing to the problem. Seafood Watch helps remedy this conundrum by advising users which restaurants and stores sell the most “ocean-friendly” seafood. It also informs the user about the seafood they eat, how sustainable it is, and lets them search for sushi and fish by name.