10 top apps to help you tackle climate change and reduce waste

Later this year Britain will host the biggest summit it has ever seen, and one of the most important climate change summits ever held. The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) will see world leaders, climate experts and campaigners meet in Glasgow to agree on ways to tackle climate change.

As our recent blog explains, it probably couldn’t come too soon. In August, a United Nations scientific report warned of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and floods during the next decade because of climate change.

The report prompted the UN’s Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to say it was now “code red for humanity”. There was some good news though, with scientists saying a catastrophe could be avoided if the world takes action now.

If you want to do your bit for the planet, how can you become more environmentally friendly? One way could be to use the phone apps now available to help you reduce carbon dioxide emissions, reduce waste and shop in a more sustainable way.

Read on to discover 10 that could interest you.

1. Commute Greener

Want to green your commute? This free app helps you do that by measuring the carbon dioxide emission from your daily commute, whether travelling by car, bus, train or even bicycle.

It provides public transport timetables, suggests greener options, awards points for reducing your carbon emissions and allows you to compete with friends to see who’s the greenest commuter.

2. thredUp

Clothing may not be the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of ways to help the environment and tackle climate change. That said, the fashion industry is the world’s second largest consumer of water and produces 20% of the world’s waste water.

The thredUp app allows you to sell, buy and thrift high quality women’s and children’s clothing, helping the environment through re-use and waste reduction.

3. ReGAIN

If you have cleared out your wardrobe and wondered what to do with your unwanted clothing, try this app that you can download for free. If you do, it could help you turn old clothing into vouchers that you can use at selected retailers and fashion brands.

Send your old clothes at one of the UK’s thousands of points and ReGAIN ensures they are re-worn, recycled or upcycled to avoid them going to waste.

4. Think Dirty

The app allows you to learn what ingredients are in the beauty, household and personal care products you buy. Through simple information on products, you can quickly see if there are toxic ingredients you should avoid, as well as cleaner alternatives to consider.

The app is free to download.

5. Refill

Bottled water is around 900 times more carbon intensive than tap water. This free app connects you with more than 30,000 no charge refill stations across Britain including shops, businesses and transport hubs where you can replenish your water bottle while on the go.

6. TreeClicks

Worried about the environmental impact of the purchases you make? TreeClicks could be the solution as it offsets carbon emissions released as goods are transported, or any pollution generated while products are being made, by planting trees.

The free app works as a search engine and TreeClicks receives a fee when you shop from certain retailers, such as eBay, Amazon and ASOS. This fee funds the planting.

7. JouleBug

This free app helps you live more sustainably by giving you tips on how to be kinder to the planet and then helps you turn them into actions. By providing you with easy-to-understand links, statistics and videos, you can find new ways to reduce your impact on the planet.

8. ESO

This National Grid app helps you make more conscious decisions about your energy use. It helps you work out the greenest time of day to use your appliances and also provides real-time data on how energy you are using is being produced.

This allows the free app to lower your carbon footprint and electricity bills.

9. Yayzy

This helps you see the impact of the money you spend on the environment. Yayzy shows you your carbon footprint of each purchase in real time and shows you how much damage it will have in various forms.

For example, if you buy a train ticket, the free app could tell you your trip will be the equivalent to 1,000 hours of a lightbulb being switched on, or driving 500 miles in a small car.

10. Kitche

This free app helps you reduce household food waste by keeping track of the ingredients in your cupboards. Just scan your supermarket receipts and Kitche adds the information to a virtual pantry and alerts you when food is reaching its “best before” date.

It also allows you to track the food you throw away to help reduce your waste.

Get in touch

We hope this information is useful if you want to reduce your carbon footprint or help tackle climate change as we head towards 2021’s COP 26 conference. If you would also like to discuss ways you could make your wealth, investments or pension more sustainable and better for the planet, please email us on info@harperlees.co.uk or call on 01277 350560.