Without a doubt, phones have risen to a status of indispensability and necessity for most. In fact, Maryville University points out how there was a 63% year-over-year increase in global mobile traffic in 2016, marking a steep rise of mobile users around the world. And that was three years ago. Right now, Tech Jury reveals that there are around 4.68 billion unique mobile users, with most consumers spending upwards of five hours daily on their phones.
There’s no question that mobile phones are powerful and influential tools, which makes them the perfect vessels for promoting advocacies and lifestyles like sustainable living. Read on to find the best apps you can download today to support your own sustainable lifestyle:
HowGood
The United Nations reveals that agriculture is to blame for 14% of greenhouse gas emissions, with the recommendation that individuals should be smarter about what they eat. HowGood has an expansive database built through rigorous research that you can use to check food items. By searching for the product in the database, you can find out if it’s environmentally friendly and ethically produced. The app will even tell you if the item is overly processed and offer up suggestions based on benchmarks like processing practices and company conduct.
ThredUp
While thrifting is becoming more popular and accessible, most would agree that it’s still much easier to shop online than look through hundreds of racks in a warehouse. ThredUp was launched over a decade ago with precisely this problem in mind, and has redefined sustainable fashion since then. Through ThredUp, you can browse thousands of pre-owned clothes from the comfort of your home! As an added bonus, the company encourages users to donate clothes they no longer use in exchange for cash or store credit.
iRecycle
Recycling is one of the basic tenets of sustainable living, but it can also be one of the trickiest. It isn’t always easy to find creative ways to recycle. Enter iRecyle: an app that will help you find recycling stations depending on your location and needs. You can expect to have access to the locations, contact numbers, and websites of over 110,000 recycling programs in more than 250,000 locations around the country. It also has useful guides on recycling and motivational stories about people living their best lives sustainably.
Oroeco
A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from a company, product, or service. On the individual scale, it is the total emissions caused by your day-to-day activities. For instance, the University of Cambridge notes how even just reducing beef and lamb consumption can cause a significant reduction in carbon emissions. Oroeco is an app that can give you an in-depth look at just how much your actions impact the environment. By inputting data like what car you drive, what you eat, or the things you buy, it’s able to calculate your carbon footprint and even make recommendations. It also gives you the option of tracking your carbon footprint as it changes with your lifestyle, which makes it easier for you to stay on track and meet your sustainability goals.
Technology makes sustainable lifestyles easier to achieve in a world that desperately needs it. With a few swipes on your phone and a bit of effort, you can make a real and lasting difference in the environment.
Article contributed by Anita Preston
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