Green Rising’s Guide to iPhone Apps

Shopping

3rdWhale Mobile: This app uses GPS to find green restaurants, stores, and travel destinations in 100 cities in the U.S. and Canada, and displays results on a map with directions.   No iPhone? 3rd whale is working on Android and Blackberry phones. Free 2 stars

GoodGuide: Use this app to find out what’s in 75,000 common household products. No iPhone? Check out goodguide.com. Free 2.5 stars

Go Organic!: This app finds organic grocery stores and Earth Day events near you. Free 1.5 stars

Gorgeously Green Survival Guide: Want to know the dirt on your makeup before you buy it? This app suggests chemicals to avoid in makeup and sunscreens and gives tips on food and product labels. $0.99 5 stars

shopgreen: This app is more than just a shopping tool. Enter information about your green habits and the app will connect that information with promotions from local businesses. No iPhone? shopgreen is available on other mobile platforms. $0.99 2.5 stars

**If you can only download one: Get the GoodGuide.  Reviewers praise the level of detail in the GoodGuide database as well as its ease of use.

Food

DirtyProduce: Environmental Working Group brought its lists of the most and least pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables to the mobile world. Free 3 stars

iLocavore: Use this app to find locally grown food in your area. Free 1.5 stars

Seafood Guide: Recommended by AppCraver,  this app lists most commercially-sold fish by region (North America only) and rates those fish for sustainability. Brought to you by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the app may be fishy, but the info is certainly not. Free 3 stars

What’s Fresh: Anywhere, anytime,  you too can learn what fruits and vegetables are in season. This app also maps seasonable produce across the U.S. $1.99 3 stars

Transportation

iTransitBuddy: This app provides train maps and schedules for multiple U.S. cities. $4.99 3 stars

theNextTrain:  View train departure times from any station in nine U.S. transit systems.  Individual apps are available for each city. $3.99-4.99 Go to theNextTrain website to find city-specific apps.

UniBus:  Using Google transit data, this app estimates arrival times of buses and trains for 20+ U.S. cities. $1.99 2 stars

**Search the app store for transit apps specific to almost every major American and international city. (Seattle?  Try Seattle Bus. Bangkok? Try BKK Transit. You get the idea.)

Bicycles

Bike Your Drive: This app doubles a basic cyclocomputer and carbon calculator. Instantly compute your average speed and elapsed time on the bike as well as how many calories you’ve burned and lbs of CO2 emissions offset. You can save multiple routes and geotag photos of landmarks. Free 3 stars

Cars: Energy Monitoring

Carbon Calc: This app finds your carbon footprint by combining the toll from your annual air and automobile travel with your home energy consumption.   Use that total to compare your carbon contribution with that of the average American (23 tons!?) and the average European (Don’t ask.  It will only make you feel guilty). Then,  after you’ve just given yourself a world class guilt trip, the app offers the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets via PayPal. Free 3 stars

Recycling

iRecycle: Find recycling and disposal locations across the country with this app from recycling nonprofit Earth911.   Search by item or location to find 100,000 municipal and private drop-off sites. Free 3.5 stars

Local Reuse: Don’t throw it away, give it away.   This app connects otherwise landfill-destined reusable items with people who want the ultimate free bargain. Enter your zip code to see what’s available in your area. Free 2 stars

Entertainment

ECOcal: Some people actually know when geese will begin to molt or what the best time is to spot Orion’s belt (January), but for those not in the know there is an app that keeps a schedule of natural phenomena.  ECOcal is a visual calendar of Earth’s natural cycles paired with a Gregorian calendar.  When do bees start to buzz around? Download the app to find out. $3.99 3.5 stars

Green Energy Now: Essentially a green trivia bank, this app features an assortment of random green facts, a news reader, a green tip generator, and a green trivia quiz—perfect preparation for green trivia night at your local watering-hole. $0.99 3 stars

iPlanet!: For those who subscribe to social networks for the sake of being in social networks, the developers of iPhorest have created a network to turn the world green—digitally.  Every user who downloads this app adds a pinprick of green light to a digital globe. Free 3 stars

News

GreenSpot: Follow the latest environmental headlines from sources like the New York Times, the Associated Press, and Yahoo! News with this app’s topic-specific feeds. If you like its taste in news, the app also hosts a podcast. $1.99 3 stars  Reviewers like the news sources and podcast.

Green Living Tips

Get Green: Get a tip a day with this app. The tips seem informative—the example in iTunes explains why balancing coffee grounds with dried grass in your compost will offset the nitrogen in the coffee. Plus, a seasonal filter prevents suggestions for a greener Halloween from popping up in April. $0.99 3 stars Reviewers like the tip-a-day function and the thoroughness of the tips’ suggestions.

Find more at: http://www.grist.org/article/index/2009-07-06-green-iphone-apps/PALL/