9 apps that help you make everyday life more sustainable

They tell you when the next train is coming or how far it is to the nearest pub – these days there is an app for pretty much everything, and many of them have become impossible to imagine daily life without. Today we would like to give you nine apps that even let you do some good. From saving plastic to planting trees – acting sustainably has never been this easy:

ReplacePlastic – reducing plastic at the tap of a button

We hardly need to tell you how important it is to reduce plastic in everyday life and in general. Unfortunately many products still come wrapped in plastic, and as a consumer you often wonder why so many large companies still do not offer a sustainable alternative. With the ReplacePlastic app you as a consumer can prompt companies to rethink. All you have to do is scan the barcode of the product that comes in plastic, and ReplacePlastic passes the feedback straight on to the company. You can read about the successes the app has already achieved here.

CodeCheck – knowing what is inside

Want to know whether the bar you are about to buy is palm-oil free? Or whether the detergent contains questionable ingredients? With the CodeCheck app you can find out simply by scanning the barcode on the product before it goes into your shopping bag. Beforehand you can use individual settings to specify what matters to you and what you want to look out for (palm-oil free, vegan, microplastic-free, etc.). That saves you a lot of time, because you do not have to work your way through all the ingredients.

Siegelklarheit – your guide through the seal jungle

Certifications and seals are often a helpful guide when choosing a sustainable product while shopping. By now, though, there are so many seals that it is hard to remember which one means what. The Siegelklarheit app helps here. All you have to do is scan the seal and you immediately receive information and an assessment of it, along with the option of comparing it with other seals. You can look up which environmental and social seals are already included.

Too Good To Go – the app against food waste

Around 12 million tonnes of food end up in the bin in Germany every year.
With the Too Good To Go app you can rescue food and save real money at the same time. Participating restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries offer food at a reduced price that would otherwise have been thrown away. You order and pay for it easily through the app and collect it in store. The app tells you directly which partners there are near you.

Refill app – saving plastic with tap water

Reusable glass or stainless steel bottles are not only on trend right now, they are also the best way to save plastic when you are out and about. Especially in Germany, where we have the privilege of drinking water straight from the tap – and where tap water is among the most closely monitored foodstuffs of all. When your bottle runs empty while you are out and you would like to refill it, the Refill app helps. It shows you where the nearest opportunity to do so is. Participating partners are additionally marked with a sticker.

Rebuy – avoiding waste and earning money

Used phones and laptops often end up in the bin, not because they are broken but because there are constantly new technologies and we keep chasing the latest trends.
Rebuy lets you sell used but working electronics as well as films, games and books. Every product sent in is checked by Rebuy and then offered for sale at a reasonable price. That stops technology that still works from ending up in the bin unnecessarily. At the same time somebody else gets the chance to buy good devices cheaply.

Go Green Challenge – accepted!

This app motivates you to protect the environment with a variety of tasks. With new daily and weekly challenges such as picking up litter, shopping plastic-free or rescuing food, it helps you make the world a little greener. Your personal score shows how green you already are. On top of that there are tips and information on environmental protection.

epap – the digital till receipt

This year Germany introduced the obligation to issue a till receipt. Besides the bureaucratic effort and the extra costs, it also creates a great deal of paper waste. Although paper is probably the wrong word here, because till receipts are often made of thermal paper, which is chemically treated and should not be disposed of with waste paper. Wouldn’t it be best if the receipts never had to be printed in the first place? This is where epap comes in. With this app you can have your receipt issued digitally at more than 4,000 partners in Germany already. An integrated map shows you which partners near you are using it. As a side benefit, you also get an overview of your finances.

Ecosia – the search engine that plants trees

Ecosia is a search engine like Google. The difference is that the income from search queries is used to plant trees. On average it takes 45 searches to plant one tree. Since it was founded, this social business model has made it possible to plant more than 112 million trees. Ecosia is also the first German company to be awarded the “B Corporation” certificate.

Have you already had experience with one or other of these apps?
Or do you know of other helpful apps on these subjects?
Then do write and tell us in the comments.