Want to do more to be part of a sustainable future? The biggest barrier is knowing where to start, so we’ve dug up some apps to make it easier to identify how you can make a difference!

Keep reading to kick fast fashion, flick on efficient lights, know what can be recycled (and where), and more! These apps will boost your contribution to sustainability with no brainstorming session required.

RecycleSmart

Ever been unsure about what can go in the recycle bin? RecycleSmart is your saviour! Enter your address and the app will tell you what can be recycled in your local collection. They’ve even teamed up with some Councils to collect recyclable items that can’t go in the kerbside collection!

Free on iOS and Android.

Light Bulb Saver

Efficient light bulbs have become more affordable in the last few years. This means that wattage has become a less common way to compare light bulbs. Some brands offer a comparison, but if you don’t know what LEDs suit your lamp or how much halogen you need for your hallway, look no further than Light Bulb Saver.

It’ll also give you a rundown of purchase price and running costs, so you won’t be left scratching your head in the supermarket aisle.

Free on iOS and Android. More info at energyrating.gov.au/apps.

Shop Ethical!

The Shop Ethical! app puts a product database at your fingertips. A built-in barcode scanner utilises your phone’s camera to make shopping ethically even easier!

Whatever you’re shopping for, check the social record of the manufacturer or the materials used in the product itself. The app is well worth the one-off purchase to support regular updates of the product database with the latest information.

$5.99 on iOS and $4.94 on Android.

ShareWaste

Ever heard of crowdfunding? How about ridesharing? Combine the two and you have… crowdsharing? Remove costs and emissions from the concept and that’s how we like to think of ShareWaste!

ShareWaste is an app that networks people who want to recycle organic material. Whether you’re a business or an individual, have a garden or a lot of food scraps, use ShareWaste to connect with people nearby to collaborate with your waste and create compost, feed worms or some chooks.

Free on iOS and Android.

Go forth and be greener!

Can you believe it’s been nearly fifty years since the invention of the mobile phone? It’s true! A prototype mobile handset developed by Motorola was used to make the world’s first mobile phone call in 1973 – they called one of their competitors to let them know the good news.

However, while mobile phones existed way back in the 70s, it would be a long time before the average person owned one! In Australia, the earliest mobile network wasn’t built until 1981 with just three 500MHz base stations operating out of Melbourne, and 2G mobile networks didn’t roll out in capital cities until 1993. It’s fair to say that mobiles have gotten pretty popular in the decades that followed, with 75.8% of Aussies owning a smartphone as of 2017.

Let’s take a walk down mobile memory lane and find out how our handsets got to be the way they are today.

The morning commute, making dinner, weeding the garden – we all have chunks of time in our week when our eyes are occupied but our mind is on autopilot.

While ‘doing nothing’ is far from a bad thing (in fact, there is even a Dutch practice called ‘Niksen’ which calls upon people to be idle in order to combat burnout) it’s sometimes nice to learn something new as you go about your daily schedule.

If you’re nodding your head to what we’re saying, you’re in luck – we’ve put together a list of 15 podcasts to add to your listening rotation this spring.