Best Green Apps to Help You Live a Sustainable Life

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The Best Green Apps for a More Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

Although technology sometimes gets a bad rap for the environmental mess we’re in right now, there are actually a variety of green apps that can help you live a more eco-friendly life.

If you’re looking for an easy way to get practical green living tips, live a more sustainable life, and save some money at the same time, you can start by downloading a few of these top green apps.

1. JouleBug

JouleBug is a free app that can help you form green habits by rewarding you with points and badges for choosing eco-friendly lifestyle options. For example, you’ll get points for opening a window instead of running the air conditioning, or packing reusable silverware in your lunch instead of plastic.

You can also have your friends join and take part in a little healthy competition to see who can accumulate the most points. Or see how you do in local and national challenges.

Not only can JouleBug help you make eco-friendly decisions, but it can also help you save money by showing you how to reduce your electric and water consumption.

Download: JouleBug for iOS or Android.

2. Oroeco

While we all know we need to lower our carbon footprint, it’s sometimes hard to visualize just how our actions impact the environment. Oroeco is one of the best eco-friendly apps for showing you exactly what your carbon footprint looks like, which will help you make greener choices.

When you sign up for this free app, you’ll get personalized tips that will show you how to reduce pollution and save money. You can also compete or collaborate with friends to see who can earn the most badges.

Plus, making greener choices can earn you points that you can cash in for some great prizes.

Download: Oroeco for iOS or Android.

3. Dropcountr

Dropcountr is one of the best green apps to help you conserve water. It connects with participating water utility companies to let you see how much water you’re using.

After you download the free app, you can then look at how much water you use compared to what your neighbors use and set goals to lower your consumption. In fact, Dropcountr users average about 9% in monthly water savings.

Download: Dropcountr for iOS or Android.

4. RecycleNation

RecycleNation is a free search engine app that helps you find recycling centers near you. This is especially helpful if you’re traveling and not familiar with the area.

If you’re getting ready to take a trip, don’t forget to check out our post on the must-pack essentials for zero waste travel.

To use RecycleNation, simply choose what you want to recycle, enter your location, and view a map of all the nearby recycling centers. You can also get directions and find hours of operation.

Download: RecycleNation for iOS and Android.

5. PaperKarma

Recycling junk mail is good. However, making sure the resources required to make that junk mail aren’t wasted in the first place is even better.

PaperKarma makes our list of the best green apps because it helps you stop unwanted mail and catalogs with just the snap of a picture.

The next time you receive some junk mail, simply take a picture of it. And that’s it! PaperKarma takes care of unsubscribing for you. The app has a free trial, and then you have to switch to a subscription.

Download: PaperKarma for iOS and Android.

6. EWG’s Healthy Living

Figuring out whether a food or product is safe for you isn’t always easy. Labels are often filled with jargon and complicated words that don’t make sense. Plus, companies can sometimes stick vague words like “natural ingredients” in there and not have to disclose what those ingredients actually are.

Fortunately, Environmental Working Group’s (EWG’s) Healthy Living app makes it a lot easier to make safer choices. The free app has ratings for more than 120,000 food and cosmetic products.

You can either search for products by name or use the barcode scanner to find the options with the best ratings.

The EWG is also known for its Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 list, which ranks the produce with the highest level of pesticide residue. Check out our post to learn more about the produce on the list and how you can make a homemade fruit and veggie wash to help clean your produce.

Download: EWG’s Healthy Living for iOS and Android.

7. American Farmers Markets

Buying locally grown food offers numerous advantages. It reduces the number of miles food has to travel, which means less fuel burned and less carbon dioxide in our air. If you’re buying straight from the farmer, you also cut out the grocery store middleman, which means cheaper food costs for you. Plus, the food is fresher, which means it has better nutritional quality.

American Farmers Markets helps you find farmers markets near you. The free app will also give you directions and let you view updated hours of operation.

Plus, each time you check in at one of the listed farmers markets, you’ll be able to unlock fun badges.

Download: American Farmers Markets for iOS.

8. Humane Eating Project

When you’re eating out, you often have no way of knowing where your food comes from. The Humane Eating Project app makes it much easier for you to find restaurants that offer vegetarian, vegan, and humanely-raised options.

Plus, the app is great to have even if you’re not currently practicing a vegetarian or vegan diet since it provides user ratings on the restaurants listed.

Researchers say the single biggest way to reduce your carbon footprint is to follow a vegan diet. If you’re not ready to go full vegan, following a vegan or vegetarian diet just one day a week is a great way to get your feet wet and still have a positive environmental impact, and this free app can help you find the restaurants that can make that happen.

Download: Humane Eating Project for iOS and Android.

9. Buycott

The best way to make companies practice more eco-friendly behavior is to make a statement with your wallet. Buycott is on our list of the top green apps because it makes it easy to support companies that practice what’s important to you.

The free app has a number of campaign categories, including environment, health, food, animal welfare, and human rights. When you find causes you’re passionate about, you can join the campaign.

When you’re shopping, use the barcode scanner to see how companies and products line up with your causes. If you come across a product that doesn’t match with your values, the app can suggest better alternatives.

It even offers an easy way for you to notify the company and your friends that you’re not buying the product because of the company’s position on your cause.

Download: Buycott for iOS and Android.

10. thredUP

If you have a closet full of clothes you no longer wear, don’t throw them away. Instead, use the thredUP app to turn those clothes into money. Simply fill up your Clean Out Kit, send it back to thredUP, and they’ll do all the work of listing and selling your clothes.

Even better, when you’re looking to add some items to your wardrobe, you can shop their selection of over 35,000 brands.

While thredUP is great for getting rid of clothing you no longer wear, if you have kids, you might also find yourself with piles of toys that they no longer play with. If so, check out our master list of all the best places to donate used toys.

Download: thredUp for iOS or Android.

The Best Green Apps

From finding recycling centers to learning about eco-friendly habits, these are the top green apps for helping you live a more sustainable life. Download some of your favorites to start making a difference today!

More Eco-Friendly Tips

Now that you’ve discovered the best green apps, are you ready for even more eco-friendly tips? Be sure to check out some of our other popular posts: