9 apps to become more eco-friendly and greener. You want to try to change your habits but you are not sure how? These apps are for you!
At a time when global warming is becoming more and more threatening, governments aren’t as proactive as they should be and people who are eco-friendly aren’t perceived so well, we thought about writing an article to help those who want to change their habits and become more environmentally responsible. Of course we have to revise a lot from our daily routines and that is often a big challenge – hence the idea of making challenges. We have therefore listed below a couple of apps that can help you change your ways to become more eco-friendly but also some challenges that will constitute the first steps towards protecting your but also your children’s future as, unfortunately, the consequences of global warming will become reality during our lifetime.
We will be the first witnesses or, better yet, the first victims of what humanity has created if we do not do something about it. Therefore, this list should help out the lazier ones who have a hard time getting started! No more excuses now to not become green and adopt more responsible habits with these apps that do almost all the thinking for you! 9 apps to go green below!
The super useful apps to go green:
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Happy Cow: the fork for vegetarians and vegans!

Happy Cow has been around for many years already, available in more than 180 countries! Therefore, you have plenty to choose from. Moreover, this app is a non-profit organization which makes it completely unbiased in its ranking of various establishments.
Happy Cow lists all vegetarian and vegan restaurants and all the restaurants that propose vegetarian/vegan alternatives. It’s really a crucial app if you want to make your plate greener.
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BuyCott: the app for consuming transparently!

BuyCott is truly great. Basically, you can scan a product and then the app tells you whether the product is inconsistent or not with the causes that you support. For example, I am against the use of animals in labs, therefore I will support in the app a campaign that fights against animal testing. While I do my shopping and I scan the barcode of a beauty product, the app will tell me if I should avoid a particular product based on the causes that I stand by.
This will enable you to make clear choices in what you buy, knowing that each purchase has unique power. By buying you support, by boycotting you disapprove and because of this the company in question will be forced to put its principles and production in question. A great app to go green!

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Quit meat: to reduce one’s consumption of animal products

It’s a fairly recent app – it’s for people who want to consume less meat and who are curious about calculating the equivalent in animals spared, saved water and non-released carbon emission. For example, I downloaded the app around 1st October and I am mainly vegetarian but I can consume eggs for 2 days when I am out of options. It means that I could save the equivalent of 5 animals in 1 month and a half, saved 62m3 of water (or 957 showers) and I didn’t release 120KG of CO2, meaning 638km by car! Not a bad feat for one person only!

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Too good to go: less waste, more savings!

Too Good To Go is simply genius! If you want to become more eco-responsible, a simple gesture is the fight against waste. Businesses have seized this opportunity to sell their inventories at reduced prices and avoid waste. An example? 4-5 star hotels that offer huge breakfasts to their clients and food is inevitably not consumed. This app allows them to sell the surplus in boxes for less than 5 euros that are well stocked. Proof in picture!
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The equivalent of 8.90 euros at Bake my Day, a bakery in Amsterdam worth 3.50 -
The equivalent of 14.99 euros in Marqt a supermarket chain upscale in Holland, paid 4.99euros -
The equivalent of 8.99 euros to Ekoplaza, a chain of organic stores in Holland worth 2.99 euros
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Ecosia: for planting trees

Are you fed up with Google stealing your personal information and selling it to the highest bidder? And you want to become more environmentally responsible? The app Ecosia is a search engine that supports reforestation thanks to our clicks! Ecosia plants trees and also offers a variety of solutions such as ad blockers and private browsing – so pretty much an ideal solution for overcoming a variety of issues! Each search is supposed to be reclaiming 1Kg CO2 from the atmosphere. So what are you waiting for, go to your keyboards!

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My little plastic footprint: reduce your plastic footprint through questions and games!

My little plastic footprint is a great app, you should download it as it provides you with numerous pieces of advice on how to reduce your plastic footprint and reach levels of expertise in the fight against plastic! For example, did you know that San Francisco is the first city in the world to be banishing plastic bottles by 2020?

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Good Fish Guide: to avoid consuming endangered species

I used to adore eating fish. But that was before I realized the kind of harm we are inflicting upon oceans by emptying them of life, under horrible conditions, turtles, whales, fish and other marine fauna that are accidentally caught in huge fish nets and boats. More than 1000 billion fish are taken from the oceans per year (some estimate this number to be 2700 billion, I just took the average estimate). Can you imagine the carnage? It really resembles a genocide for lack of better wording…However if you can’t give up fish despite all of this, at least try to consume the ones that are not endangered, by following the good advice provided by Good Fish Guide that lists the species and indicates which ones are most endangered.
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Plogging through Lifesum: running for yourself and for the planet!

Combine the useful with the…useful! ‘Plogging’, a Swedish eco-friendly fitness trend, that combines picking up trash and jogging. Run for your own health and the sake of the planet ! Since Lifesum has implemented plogging as an activity, you can even track your calories spent based on the weight carried.

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Tookki: facilitate your responsible travel with regards to people, places and nature

It’s a young app, completely new, created by a French company. Tookki allows you to share responsible addresses with the network and therefore promote an eco-friendlier tourism. For now, the sharing is in French and mostly Parisian but if you want to enrich the database and share some of the places you know, it’s possible to submit a spot whether it’s a restaurant or shop. another great app to go green!
The challenges to allow you to try to change your habits:
#challenge22:
Challenge 22+ is the flagship project of Animals Now (formerly Anonymous for Animal Rights), an Israeli NGO established in 1994, promoting animal protection and cruelty-free living. Challenge 22+ offers participants a free, supportive online framework for trying veganism for 22 days. More than 100K people from all over the world have participated in the project since its launch in March 2014.
Plastic never bio-degrades and disrupts our endocrine system, and is suspected to cause cancer, infertility, and many other diseases. The Plastic Free Challenge is designed to raise awareness and promote solutions. The campaign is fueled by creative contributions and your participation.
Launched by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney in 2009, Meat Free Monday is a not-for-profit campaign which aims to raise awareness of the detrimental environmental impact of eating meat, and to encourage people to help slow climate change, conserve precious natural resources and improve their health by having at least one meat free day each week.
Translation & Copy Editing by Liana Marinoiu
Cet article est disponible en Français (French)