Earth Day happens each year on April 22, 2016 is it’s 46th year running.
We have compiled a few great (and user-friendly) apps and websites to help you take part and tackle the big issues from the palm of your hand and become more eco-friendly:
1. Palm Oil Investigations App: Barcode Scanner
This app is FREE to download and with the app and your phone camera you can easily scan products while shopping to find out whether they contain Palm Oil and whether or not the Palm Oil it contains has been farmed in a way that does not harm the Leuser Ecosystem or other important sections of rainforest which can be burned off to make room for Palm Oil Farming.
Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil on Earth. It’s in roughly half of the processed food in your local grocery. Chances are, palm oil is present in some form in nearly every room of your home, even if the label doesn’t mention it (Source: RAN website)
2. Global Forest Watch (GFW): Interactive Online Forest Monitoring and Alert System
“Designed to empower people everywhere with the information they need to better manage and conserve forest landscapes. Global Forest Watch uses cutting edge technology and science to provide the timeliest and most precise information about the status of forest landscapes worldwide, including near-real-time alerts showing suspected locations of recent tree cover loss. GFW is free and simple to use, enabling anyone to create custom maps, analyze forest trends, subscribe to alerts, or download data for their local area or the entire world. Users can also contribute to GFW by sharing data and stories from the ground via GFW’s crowdsourcing tools, blogs, and discussion groups. Special “apps” provide detailed information for companies that wish to reduce the risk of deforestation in their supply chains, users who want to monitor fires across Southeast Asia, and more. GFW serves a variety of users including governments, the private sector, NGOs, journalists, universities, and the general public.”
3.MobileMuster: Phone Recycling Program
Can you think of how many phones you have had in this lifetime? Now, times that by every person on the planet, that’s ALOT (not everyone is so fortunate of course)!
MobileMuster (Australian based) is a free, not for profit mobile phone recycling program. Your mobile phone is almost fully recyclable and can be recycled to make other products. They are also not biodegradable and will not break down – this has potential to harm the environment… MobileMuster is the perfect solution!
4. Sustainable Seafood Guide: Consumer App for Seafood in Australia
“An independent tool to choosing seafood wisely. It is Australia’s original online resource for consumers seeking to make responsible seafood choices and was developed in response to growing public concern about overfishing, farming practices and their impact on our oceans and wildlife.”
5. Beat The Microbead: Barcode Scanning App
With this app you can check if a product contains harmful plastic microbeads by just scanning the barcode with your smartphone camera.
