Only Footprints: Bringing you what you need to know about going green and making less of a harmful impact on the environment.
By: Collin Dieffenbach
In this day and age, living a greener lifestyle is right at our fingertips. With these eight apps, you too can reduce carbon emissions, increase recycling, and live a greener, healthier lifestyle.
Carma Carpooling: Free
Carma Carpooling allows users to set up shared car journeys with other members in real time just by browsing nearby matches and connected members.
At the end of the ride, the driver automatically receives a payment from the rider, based on the distance traveled. Both the driver and rider then review the ride and that information gets shared with the rest of the community to help others. Carma Carpooling is fun, it saves you money and it helps reduce carbon emissions by carpooling.
Goodguide: Free
Using a built in bar-code scanner, Goodguide allows users to determine whether American products are healthy, ecologically responsible and safe, all while shopping. Goodguide contains information on more than 170,000 products in food, personal care, household cleaners, pet food, baby food and more. With personalization settings users are able to prioritize his or her issues.
Locavore: Free
Locavore is an app designed to help users consume more local produce, helping to eliminate transportation emissions found in large grocery stores while helping increase flavor by finding in-season, local produce. By using your location, Locavore is able to find farms and farmer’s markets closest to you. Who doesn’t want tastier food that is good for the environment? Locavore also helps local farmers thrive, while helping the local economy.
greenMeter: $5.99
Using your driving habits, your cars performance and fuel usage, greenMeter can help the user determine the best driving practices to increase fuel efficiency, decrease fuel consumption and environmental impact. The app uses a complex algorithm that is able to compute “parameters over the entire speed range;” in other words, the app does not require GPS functionality, helping save battery usage as well.
Paper Karma: Free
Nothing is more disappointing then getting unwanted, pesky, paper-wasting junk mail. Well, using the Paper Karma app, you can snap a picture of the mail that you want canceled, and they will cancel the service for you. After snapping a photo of the mail, Paperkarma will remove you from the company’s mailing list. It works for magazines, coupon books, fliers, yellow pages and more. Enough trees are being used in the paper manufacturing industry, with Paperkarma, you can help reduce that number.
iRecycle: Free
iRecycle allows users to find over 1,500,000 ways to recycle over 350 products. It helps with finding the most convenient and local recycling opportunities while at home or on the go. The app features ways to recycle things from batteries and paint, to glass and metal. It even has a hazardous waste section, too. We can help increase recycling worldwide, while also reducing land fill waste.
Eco Charger old: Free
Eco Charger notifies users with noise notifications when their phone has finished fully charging. This app helps conserve battery life over time, it also helps save the user money on electricity bills, while it helps protect the environment.
RecycleBank: Free
Recyclebank rewards members for doing activities such as recycling, taking online quizzes, or learning about practices that effect the environment; not that living a greener, more environmentally friendly life needs any incentive, of course. At the end of it all, users are able to get rewards that include: free magazine subscriptions, restaurant gift cards, grocery coupons and more. Recyclebank helps users and the environment. The app helps beginners become educated in living a green lifestyle, which will help them transition into that lifestyle permanently.
Photos courtesy of play.google.com, twitter.com, itunes.apple.com, iphoneapplicationlist.com and 1800recycling.com.
