There’s a (green) app for that

 

By Erin McCann
Our phones are getting smarter, and so are we. We’re using technology to help us practice healthy lifestyles, promote sustainability and fuel our bodies with organic food. Smart phone apps are making it easy to be green. Here are some of our favorites:

LIFESTYLE
Go Green
Free, iPhone
Looking for eco-friendly suggestions? This app displays green tips and stores them  for future reference.

Get Green
99 cents, iPhone
Like Go Green, this app displays season and holiday-related green lifestyle tips.

3rd Whale Mobile
$1.99, iPhone
Connect with local green businesses in categories like food, services and retail.

Shopgreen
99 cents, iPhone, BlackBerry
Receive recommendations on transportation, home, recycling and groceries, and discover local business promotions based on your green habits.

GoodGuide
Free, iPhone
Products to avoid! With ratings of more than 70,000 items in categories such as food, personal products, toys and household cleaners.

iTrans
$3.99, iPhone
If you use public transportation, use this app to view major U.S. cities’ maps, schedules and service advisories.

UniBus
$1.99, iPhone
Catch the bus on time with estimated arrival times of trains and buses in more than 20 U.S. cities.

FlyToMap
99 cents – $2.99, iPhone
For all the hikers, fishers and boaters out there, this app provides maps of U.S. national parks and waterways.

iNewz Green
$2.99, iPhone
Get the latest articles from the Web (from sites like The Daily Green and TreeHugger) in a variety of green news categories.

GreenSpot
$1.99, iPhone
Read environmental topic-specific news feeds from sources like The New York Times and Associated Press.

WELLNESS
Sunscreen
99 cents, Windows
Receive UV Index forecasts and recommendations for a safe amount of time to spend in the sun.

Gorgeously Green Survival Guide
99 cents, iPhone
Identify harmful chemicals that may be lurking in your beauty products.

Greenpeace Tissue Guide
Free, iPhone
Find brands that use recycled materials and avoid bleach and other harmful chemicals.

In Case of Emergency (ICE)
$2.99, BlackBerry
Store your name, emergency contact info, allergies, physician’s phone number, blood type, existing medical conditions and current medications in case you are unable to give this information to emergency personnel.

CPR Hero
Free, iPhone
Yes, your iPhone can help save a life. This app provides adult emergency CPR training, and includes proper pacing, breath timing and counts with a voice coaching you along the way.

Natural Cures
Free, iPhone
Learn how to combine traditional western medicine with natural therapies for optimal health. Conditions are presented with their treatments. Vitamins and nutrition are touched upon as well.

Supplements
99 cents, iPhone
For those wondering what exactly Riboflavin does, discover the benefits and health information for that and more than 100 other nutrients.

iFitness
$3.99, BlackBerry
Avoid costly personal trainers with this database of more than 230 exercises sorted by muscles or body region. The app provides pictures, detailed descriptions and includes 10 fitness routines.

Joggah
$4.99, Windows
Runners can use the GPS technology found in their phone to track distance, time, heart rate and the pace/speed of a run.

Bike Your Drive
Free, iPhone
Calculate your average time and speed on a bike, calories burned and pounds of CO2 emission offsets. The app also allows the user to save routes.

Yoga Instructor Pro
$1.99, iPhone
Yoga practitioners can use this app to browse more than 70 poses with photos and step-by-step instructions. Practice with programmed sequences or build your own.

iVeda
$4.99, iPhone
Keep your life in balance by using this evaluation tool to determine your Ayurvedic constitution.  Grocery lists and imbalance treatments are also provided.

Chakra Box
$2.99, iPhone
Clear yourself of negativity with this app designed to release internally trapped energy. Included are a mediation timer and seven authentic Tibetan singing bowl recordings.

Guided Insight Mediation
$2.99, iPhone
Reduce stress and free your mind from pain with mediation guidance and 48 instructional videos.

AcuRX
Free, iPhone
Treat your back pain, headache, knee or neck pain with animations that provide instruction on personal acupressure.

ENVIRONMENT
A Real Tree
99 cents, iPhone
Help plant trees with anti-deforestation organizations.

MeterRead
$2.99, iPhone
Examine your energy consumption by monitoring your electric meter at home.

Carbon Tracker
Free, iPhone
Calculate your car’s carbon footprint by synching with your GPS system and track your progress after setting maximum emission goals.

GreenMeter
$5.99, iPhone
Track your car’s fuel and power usage with an internal accelerometer to measure such things as fuel economy, forward acceleration, fuel cost and oil consumption.

Traffic
$1.99, iPhone
This app uses Google traffic feeds to tell you where the congestion is, so you can avoid unnecessary emissions from idling.

Carticipate
Free, iPhone
Organize carpools with others in the area by entering a destination and desired departure time.

iRecycle
Free, iPhone
Find recycling centers based on your location or the item to be recycled.

Local Reuse
Free, iPhone
Trade or donate unwanted but reusable items with others in your area.

Green Card
Free, iPhone
Share and save business cards digitally in order to save paper.

ACTPrinter
99 cents, iPhone
Save paper for items like movie tickets and boarding passes with this PDF printer. Unfortunately, it’s only for Mac users at this time.

Yowza!
Free, iPod
Find digital coupons for area retailers and cut down on paper waste.

FOOD & NUTRITION
iLocavore
Free, iPhone
Locate retailers and restaurants that utilize, sell or produce locally made goods.

Locavore
$2.99, iPhone
Similar to iLocavore, this app provides listings of in-season food and farmer’s market locations. As an added bonus, it also links to Wikipedia and Epicurious for articles and recipes.

What’s Fresh
$1.99, iPhone
Learn which fruits and vegetables are in season and get access to maps of seasonal produce across the United States.

iFarmMarket
99 cents, iPhone
For those who like to support the local farmer’s market wherever they travel, this app provides information on more than 4,600 markets across the U.S.

Go Organic!
Free, iPhone
Locate nearby organic grocery stores based on your location.

Dirty Produce: Environmental Working Group
Free, iPhone
Get the latest tips on which foods to buy organic with lists of the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15.

Organic and Natural Food
99 cents, iPhone
Since the term ‘organic’ is pretty loosely regulated when it comes to food, this app provides a glossary of terms associated with organic and natural food.

Seafood Guide
Free, iPhone
This Monterey Bay Aquarium-sponsored app rates the sustainability of commercially sold fish in North America.

Simply Organic
Free, iPhone
Wondering what to do with that kale that’s about to go bad? This app provides a searchable database of recipes that utilize wholesome ingredients.

Healthy Recipes
Free, BlackBerry
Browse and search a database of almost 200,000 recipes and save your favorites. The app also lists the amount of calories, carbs and more for each recipe.

Fast Food Calorie Counter
$4.99, BlackBerry
If you enjoy a fast food outing every now and then, this app will help you monitor the calories, fat grams, carbs and fiber of menu items from 55 popular fast food restaurants such as Papa John’s,  Subway, Denny’s and Starbucks.

Pocket Nutritionist
$9.99, Windows
Designed for personal trainers to track their clients’ nutritional needs, this app provides users with calculators to monitor their daily intake recommendations, ideal body weight, and calorie counters.

Green Grocer
$4.99, iPhone
Always forgetting what you wanted to purchase by the time you get to the store? Create grocery and general purpose lists with this app. It also remembers shopping habits. The app is vegetarian and vegan friendly as well.

Sugar
Free, iPhone
While humans are ingesting more and more sugar through their diets, this app tries to work against that by providing definitions of the different types of sugar and its synonyms that can be found in food and beverages.

Gluten Free Info
Free, iPhone
Helpful to those who live with celiac disease, this app lists foods that contain gluten and those that are gluten free, organized by category.

So now you can calculate your carbon footprint for the week, relieve yourself of a headache with a little acupressure and find a farmer’s market you can shop during your trip to Ohio. One last thing … how about using your smart phone for a little foodie fun?

Cooking Mama
$6.99, iPhone
Although a little pricey, this app brings the hit cooking-action game to your iPhone. Players can cook along with Mama or practice recipes and cooking techniques on their own by touching, shaking and tilting their phone.