6 Green Apps for Your Phone

6 Apps for your Eco-Lifestyle!

While I try to take consistent breaks from the digital world, there are a lot of useful apps on my phone that can help me in the real world. There are so many to sift through but I’m recommending six today that can help my eco-minded friends from the garden to the kitchen.

LeafSnap –This app is one I find really useful when visiting others’ gardens or while hiking. You can take a picture of a plant you don’t recognize or know the formal name of and it will search its database for it. It is impressive how accurate it can be just from a picture! If you want to add to your garden, but don’t recognize flowers you love, this is a great way to start planning!

Mercari - While the prices are a little higher than most thrift stores you can visit in person, Mercari is a great option to safely buy secondhand or used things online. If you feel like you have too much or are planning to go through your things it can also be a great choice for selling so that you can make a little money and keep the items out of the landfill.

Ecosia – If you use Google, try switching to Ecosia instead through the app. Ecosia makes a profit through the use of search ads and then uses it to plant trees where they are most needed. You don’t have to spend time clicking on the ads or searching for no reason because that can impact their data negatively. Just use their search engine the same way you search online now and watch as your tree counter goes up in number.

Litterati – If you are a fan of the Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful Adopt-A-Mile program or Keep it Clean Dalton, check out Litterati. With this app you can pick up litter and afterwards take a picture of it and place it on their map to help collect global data on our worldwide litter issue. Each item tag should have the category it is in, the object, the material, and the brand. For example, if you found a littered candy wrapper you would tag it as “Candy, Wrapper, Plastic, Skittles” so that they can sort through the data to help us all decide how to handle litter.

See, Click, Fix – Speaking of litter, this app can be downloaded for city of Dalton residents who can then help communicate problems to Public Works directly. This app can be used for situations you come across in the community such as a large illegal dumping or storm drain issue. This is also how to request a brush pickup.

Kitche – I have a personal habit of forgetting what vegetables and fruits I have if I can’t seem them in my refrigerator door which often leaves them going bad. Kitche helps tackle this problem or keep you from buying extra materials at the store that you don’t need. Start using the app by scanning your receipts after going to the grocery store. The app will keep a list of your ingredients and will recommend recipes and warn you before items go bad. This app can help you reduce the food waste that can happen when it gets forgotten.

Try one of these apps out at a time so that you aren’t trying to learn too much at once. My personal favorites are LeafSnap and Mercari, but if you are a City of Dalton resident you will find See, Click, Fix to be one of the most useful. The key to not being overwhelmed with your digital options is to prioritize what sounds most helpful and interesting for you and starting there! Spending time on your phone doesn’t have to mean mindless scrolling. By picking out the right apps we can use our phones as tools to make our lives smoother or our day to day more interesting.

Amy Hartline is the recycling and education program coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. Have a recycling question? Contact her at (706) 278-5001 or ahartline@dwswa.org.