8 Apps to Help You Live Sustainably

Photo by Benjamin Sow on Unsplash

Let’s face it: transforming your lifestyle to be more sustainable is a daunting task. On a high street that’s dominated by fast fashion retailers, where do we even begin to search for sustainable (yet fashionable) clothing? When entering a drugstore, how do we know which of the myriad of products is not only good for us, but also gentle on the planet? And when we’re out shopping and our reusable water bottle is empty, how do we avoid buying a plastic bottle – just this one time?

Below is a list of 8 apps that will help you navigate sustainable living and support your sustainable new years resolutions. From telling you where you can refill your water bottle to figuring out how sustainably made certain products or articles of clothing are, these apps will make your transition to a sustainable lifestyle a lot easier.

1. Refill

Have you ever had to buy bottled water while you were out just because you had finished drinking the water you brought in your reusable bottle? With Refill, that will be a problem of the past. Open Refill, type in your location, and the app will give you a list of cafes, restaurants, hotels, university buildings, etc. where you can fill up your water bottle.

2. Think Dirty

With data on over 1.8 million products from over 4200 different brands, Think Dirty will help you navigate the world of skincare. While the app is designed specifically to address health-concerns, it does also provide data on sustainability-related issues (such as whether a product is vegan or cruelty-free) and it often includes a note on a given company’s basic values. Plus, if you already know that a given brand is sustainable or in line with your values, you can use Think Dirty to make sure the ingredients it uses are not known to have harmful effects.

3. Olio

Have you ever decluttered something, but not been quite sure how to get rid of it in a sustainable way? Like an unopened pack of eyedrops or a single tin of food that you know you’ll never eat? Those are the kind of situations where Olio comes in most handy. Olio connects you to others in your area, allowing you to browse what items they are looking to get rid of and allowing them to claim items you’ve listed. Since Olio’s main aim is reducing waste, every listed item, both in the food and the non-food category is free.

If you want to get rid of something, simply snap a picture, add a short description of the item, and within a few hours, you’ll likely have someone interested in it. No matter how random, nothing I’ve ever posted on Olio has not found a new home. At the same time, if you keep an eye on new listings in your area, you’ll be sure to find some tasty (sometimes even homemade!) food as well as other goodies – ranging from household items, to skincare and makeup, books, clothing and pretty much anything else – and save these from going to waste.

4. Too Good To Go

Too Good To Go is a bit like Olio, except it’s for food only and used specifically by companies to avoid wasting their excess food. Supermarkets, Cafés and restaurants put together so-called ‘magic bags’, full of whatever food didn’t sell on a given day and would normally now go to waste, and sell them for greatly reduced prices. While you won’t know exactly what’s in your magic bag, you can filter for vegetarian and vegan bags – and if you end up with something you don’t like, I’m sure your friends or housemates will appreciate you sharing 😉

5. Ecosia

Ecosia is the solution to a problem you may not even be aware of – at least I wasn’t when I first heard of it. It’s a sustainable alternative to Google and other search engines. But what’s so bad about using search engines, you ask? Well, search engines transmit data, which uses energy, which – you guessed it – emits CO2. The same goes for the entire internet, but let’s confine ourselves to talking about search engines for now. Given the myriad of people using search engines, the small emissions associated with every single search request add up – rapidly. I find this visualisation by Artist Joana Moll, using Google’s 2015 usage data, very helpful to understand just how big of an impact googling has on the environment.

Ecosia is a way to search the web without harming the environment. The app (which also has a browser extension) functions just like google: You type in your request and it returns results, some of which are adds. Unlike other search engines, however, Ecosia uses the money it makes from the ads to plant trees – thus far, the company has planted over 110 million trees –, thereby more than offsetting its CO2 emissions caused by the search requests.

6. Depop

Depop is an app where you can buy and sell used clothing. With 18 million users, there’s a high chance that someone is looking to sell exactly what you’re looking to buy – as such, it’s a great alternative to shopping on the high street. Moreover, Depop has filters that allow you to specify exactly what you’re looking for – in virtue of this, I often find using Depop easier than shopping at charity shops.

7. Good On You

Ever wonder how sustainable a given clothing brand really is? Good on You has the answers. You type in a brand, and it tells you how well they’re doing in terms of its impact on people – are they paid enough? How are the working conditions? Is child labour involved? It also gives details on how the clothes affect the environment – focusing on energy use, carbon emissions, impacts on water and disposal of resources. And finally, animals – are animal products used? If so, are animals treated ethically? Good on You gets its information from independent data sources, so you can be sure that there’s no greenwashing involved.

8. Good News

While Good News doesn’t make sustainable living easier in the same way as the 9 other apps, it helps with easing climate change anxiety. In times where reading ‘normal’ news is known to make people anxious and stressed, Good News is a dose of hope and I would recommend it to absolutely anyone. The concept behind Good News is simple: Every weekday, the app posts links to around 5 articles that are – surprise, surprise – ‘good news’ and often, though not always, related to sustainability.

We hope you find something new and useful in this blog - if you have your own recommendations for sustainability apps to please share with us on our socials, or get in touch via email at wantnotwastemanchester@gmail.com! Happy New Year, eco-warriors and environmentalists!

 

Author: Jeannine