6 of the best sustainability and nature apps - featured image

7 of the best apps for the sustainably minded

Being an agency focused on sustainability, it’ll come as no surprise that we love to get out into nature, make friends with the local and not-so-local fauna and try to have as little impact on the environment as possible.

So we thought we’d give you a furtive little look through our phones to see some of our favourite apps for the sustainably minded and also those who like to explore nature. Keep out of our camera roll though. You don’t know what you’ll find in there.

SongSleuth

We’re big bird fans here (the agency is named after one, after all), but the thing about birds is that they’re often much easier to hear than they are to actually see. You’ll often be out on a scamper through the countryside and hear the plaintive call of a… a what? You don’t know. Well not any more. SongSleuth is a lovely little app that listens to birdsong and identifies your new avian friend for you. It even translates what they’re saying into human language for you, so you’ll know whether that plover is sounding the alarm or trying to get amorous. Handy.

Find it here. https://www.songsleuth.com/#/

Candide

This is one for the more horticulturally predisposed. Candide is a very clever app for identifying plants. If you’re out on a ramble, or just trespassing in a neighbour’s garden, and spot a particularly striking flower, just whip out Candide, point your camera at the specimen and using some AI jiggery-pokery it’ll tell you what it is. Not only that, it’ll give you tips for caring for them, where to plant them and let you upload your own photos for others to see. Lovely stuff.

Find it here: https://candidegardening.com/GB

Capture

If you’re trying to get a handle on just how much carbon emissions you’re generating, a carbon footprint app will obviously come in handy. One of our favourites is Capture, due to its great clean design, automated tools and groups functionality. It can calculate your footprint based on what food you’re eating, where you’re travelling (it cleverly works out what mode of transport you’re using automatically if you’ve got your GPS on) and what you’re buying. You can set goals, compare how you’re doing against other users and find out effective ways to reduce. That’s what we like to hear.

Find it here: https://www.thecapture.club/

Think Dirty

Think Dirty isn’t, as the name suggests, an app for tracking lurid day-dreams. Instead, it’s a great app for keeping track of what you’re buying and how sustainable the products are. It works by scanning any product barcode, before giving you all of its ingredients, how ethically it was produced and options to shop cleaner. It’s especially good for cosmetics and clothing. So shop clean by thinking dirty.

Find it here: https://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/

Picture Mushroom

Do we have any fans of fungus among us? We wouldn’t be surprised: mushroom hunting has become hip and it’s not hard to see why – sauntering around the woods and fields looking for wild mushrooms can be magical. It’s like going for a walk combined with the tastiest of treasure hunts. That said, beware – some poisonous mushrooms can kill if consumed or at least destroy critical internal organs. You’d be best to avoid that sort of thing.

To avert such mycological misadventure you should ideally know what you’ve found and are about to fry up with some garlic, butter and a dash of black pepper. Picture Mushroom helps you identify what you’re looking at or picking – just snap the mystery mushroom and the AI will tell you whether you’ve got a disastrous Destroying Angel or some scrumptious Chanterelles.

A caveat, though, is that apps are never enough to identify alone – they’re just assistive tools and should be combined with experience! Don’t wolf down something you’re only half sure about and if you’re a beginner try to just stick to the fungus that are easy to identify, like Ceps and Hedgehog fungus. If you’re collecting take just what you need, it’s not good for the ecosystem if you take as much as you possibly can.

Forage sensibly and a top time’s to be had though! And Picture Mushroom is our favourite mushroom ID app to help you out.

Find it here: https://picturemushroom.com/

Good on You

Fashion is responsible for far more pollution than most people realise. The figures are shocking: it’s estimated that the fashion industry – especially fast fashion – is responsible for around 2.1 billion tonnes of CO2 every year, or 4% of all global emissions. It’s not easy to know the impact of what you’re buying but there are some apps to help you shop more sustainably. Good on You rates items of clothing across three key areas ‘people’, ‘planet’ and p… ‘animals’. It helps a lot. The next time you head out to buy some glad rags, give it a go.

Find it here: https://goodonyou.eco/

Kuri

We’ll round the post off with an app that covers something really important: cooking. Kuri recommends recipes based on where you are and what’s in season – with a focus on healthy plant-based meals. This helps reduce the the carbon emissions that are caused by selecting recipes with ingredients that impact the environment. So, no more cooking with imported Peruvian avocados in the depths of the European winter. And not only that, Kuri will also plant a tree every time you cook with the app. Top stuff for eco-friendly foodies, like us! We’re going to give a few of the app’s recipe recommendations a whirl soon.

Find it here: https://kuri.co

Did we miss any really great ones? Let us know on our social media or in the comments.

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Michael Wilkins

Birdwatcher, forager, scuba diver, butterfly watcher, mushroom expert, Founder.

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