Papaya PSA: It IS possible to put your phone addiction to good use!
Okay, we all know we should reduce, reuse and recycle to lower our carbon footprints. But did you know there are apps that can help you do the same?
To save you the time and energy of figuring out which ones are actually worth your phone storage, we tested them out for you.
Without further ado, here are our ultimate favorites:
1 - OLIO
You know that feeling when you cook or order WAY too much, it sits in your fridge until you have no choice but to throw it away and you have to live with the soul-crushing guilt that you just wasted good food? Then you need to check out OLIO.
It connects you with people in your neighborhood and allows you to share food, or pick it up from others, all in the name of preventing good food from going to waste.
Plus, OLIO has adapted to COVID restrictions as well - all you have to do is post the item you’re giving away, coordinate a pickup time with someone who’s interested, and leave your item on your porch to be picked up! The app has an internal messaging system too, so you don’t have to give your number to strangers, just your food (woo!).
As if that wasn’t enough, OLIO lets you participate in eco-friendly challenges! You can share your eco-successes on your social once you complete each challenge, and become that person everyone kinda hates for being so perfect. We’re so here for it.
2 - Ecosia
Google ain’t got nothing on this Internet search app. Get this - Ecosia will actually plant trees while you browse the net! They use the money they get from advertisers to plant as many trees as possible. Which means for every user, approximately 45 searches on the app = 1 tree planted!
So if you’ve been looking for a reason to justify your internet addiction, here ya go!
3 - iRecycle
There are two things we wish we learned in high school instead of trigonometry: how to do our taxes, and how to recycle.
There are so many aspects to recycling, that even well-intentioned people who want to do it right struggle to know what is recyclable and what isn’t. Which is why iRecycle is such a useful app.
It tells you what to recycle, where to recycle it, and bases it all around your location. Goodbye, endless google searches - hello wonderful app sent by the sustainability gods.
4 - Trash Nothing
Trash Nothing is basically the free version of Facebook Marketplace. You can post things you want to give away and claim things you want to pick up - all for zero dollars.
To be fully honest with you, we didn’t think we’d love this app as much as we do now that we've tried it. Because how good could items people are giving away for free actually be? Turns out, way better than we thought.
Just from a quick scroll through the app, we found things like beautiful vintage cabinets, a vintage typewriter (yes, you read that right), children’s toys in good condition, and a book with 1001 cookie recipes - enough baking ideas to get you through this pandemic with ease.
If you’re not running to your phone to download this app pronto, what are you even doing?!
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Those are all the recommendations we’ve got! Let us know which are your favorites - and if we missed a go-to on your list, drop it in the comments below! Cheers to a greener New Year!