We hear a lot about companies going green and making changes to help the environment, but what about change on the individual level? You may think that one person making better choices won’t do that much, but when thousands of individuals commit to doing even one thing differently, it can have a big impact.
With that positive thought in mind, here are five ideas for going green in your personal life. Take a look and see which of these you could implement. To make an even bigger impact, share some of these ideas with your friends, employees, or colleagues.
iRecycle
Recycling is a great alternative to tossing things in the trash, and iRecycle is the ultimate guide to local recycling. This app will tell you when, where and how you can recycle just about anything you can think of. Using your location, it gives you information on recycling centers in your area including their “web site, phone number, directions, hours of operation and other materials collected.” You can also create a profile and share your recycling adventures with your social networks.
Wunderlist
One of the best ways to go green is to eliminate unnecessary paper use by substituting a digital solution instead. Wunderlist lets you create simple to-do lists for any task, and then track those lists anywhere, from any computer, tablet or phone. You can even set up group to-do lists with your colleagues or family to tackle everything from a big project to a dinner party. Forward emails to Wunderlist to automatically create tasks, and set reminders and notifications to help you remember what’s on your list and when it’s due.
GoodGuide
Good guide puts the power of knowledge in your hand by letting you see how green and safe products are just by scanning their barcodes. Simply scan a product in the store and see ratings based on environmental, social and overall health factors for over 120,000 different products. You can set up a personal profile targeting the factors that most concern you, and see those first when looking up product information. You can even create shopping lists in advance based on information you look up the GoodGuide website.
Battery Doctor
Conserving energy is a great way to go green, and Battery Doctor for Android helps you identify ways you can make your phone’s battery last as long as possible before you have to plug in to a charger. Remind yourself to disable things like bluetooth and GPS when not in use, kill apps instead of leaving them running in the background, even set up your phone to conserve even more power during times when you’re at work or school, or overnight.
EcoChallenge
EcoChallenge takes the idea of conservation and going green and turns it into a game, setting up challenges for you to complete each week. These challenges tackle topics ranging from local food to energy efficient lighting and much more, with a new overall topic for each new week. Challenge your friends to compete with you and see who can make the most impact with their positive choices. In addition to the weekly challenges, you’ll also get articles and information on a wide variety of topics to help you stay informed.
There you have it – five apps that can help you go green and make an impact, even as an individual. Do you have an app to add to the list? Let us know about it below.
