We live in a world where most people live quite a lot of their lives on their phone. My analytics tell me that in the last month almost 62% of my my blog views come from a mobile phone. They're incredibly useful, and so it only makes sense that if you're trying to live a life that is more ethical and sustainable it'd be good to have resources on that phone that help you.
That's where this post is here to help you! I've created a list of apps than can help you live more ethically and sustainably. Whether that's with apps that help you find out just how ethical clothing companies are, or finding ways to stop food waste while getting super cheap food!

Being based on the UK these apps are either just UK based or worldwide, but that'll be clear underneath each app. Ooh and here is a video with some of the apps demonstrated and talked about for your viewing pleasure!
Fashion, Beauty, Home


Good on You
WebsiteApp Store | Google Play
Worldwide
Good on you is an app that lets you search for how ethical clothing brands are and it's super useful. You search for said brand, it gives them a score from Bad to Great and then a score out of five for their impact on People, Planet, and the environment, and gives suggestions for alternative stores with better scores. Before Good on You I would spend so long trawling the internet to find out about the sustainability and ethical impact of a new brand I'd found and now I just have to search! It's so good. Highly recommend.

Depop
Website | App Store | Google Play
Uk, Italy, US
It's a hell of a lot more sustainable to buy second hand clothing. And I have found some great pieces on Depop including a corset with the welsh flag on. Be wary of certain shops on here that are selling new pieces though, if they have lots of sizes it's a red flag, as well as those who buy cheap from charity shops and rack their prices up on depop. Opt for shopping other peoples wardrobe to shop cheaply and sustainably. I bought a welsh flag corset on Depop for £12 once so I am a fan. I will also soon be selling my old clothes on there so stay tuned for that.


Clean beauty
App Store | Google Play 
I've been waiting for an app like this for so long. I have no idea what's in any of the beauty products I buy, I'm not even very good with non vegan ingredients. But clean beauty is an app that acts as a glossary for beauty product ingredients so you know exactly what you're putting on your skin. A very useful tool for beauty Gurus everywhere.

Good Guide Scanner
App Store | Google Play
Good guide is a website that rates all sorts of household and beauty products in order for you to make more informed choices. It rates the hazards of the ingredients, Other negative impacts, and how good the data on the item is and then flags up the ingredients it views as negative. The app allows you to scan barcodes of items and view the good guide score. I haven't really used this app, I just downloaded it, but the hazardous ingredient list seems to be based on science and research rather than hearsay so I am happy about that. If you're looking to learn more about the items you're using then it's definitely a useful app.


Gum Tree
Website | App Store | Google Play
Worldwide
Want to find free stuff in your local area? Want to find a new home for some furniture, or even your car? Gumtree is for you. Though I've never used it myself, my mum has used gumtree over the years and has reclaimed old front doors to make into garden furniture as well as finding new homes for our old dining room table. You can list things for free to pick up, or for a price, and it's quite a good way of finding free furniture for upcycling projects or a new apartment.
Food and Drink


Refill
App Store | Google Play
Worldwide
One of the easiest ways to rid some one use plastic from your life is to take your own refillable water bottle out and about with you, but it's not always easy to find a place to fill one up (especially if you're outside a big town or city, or in a country without safe tap water) but refill shows refill stations around the world where you can find safe drinking water. It's a little limited as it relies on places signing up for it but it is definitely growing! And I'll be using this next time I go travelling.
Refill My Bottle
App Store | Google Play |
A very similar app to Refill above, Refill My Bottle also shows you refill stations around the world, the difference with this app is that you can track your refills to earn points and find out the environmental impact of refilling. I'll probably use this travelling along side Refill so that with both of them I'll hopefully always be able to find a water station.

Too Good to Go
App Store | Google Play
Too Good to Go is a food surplus app where local restaurants and cafe offer end of the day food bags for cut prices. Basically you order a bag of food from them, go at the end of their selling day and get a bags worth of food for a couple of quid. Everyone wins in this situation, the restaurant makes money off of food that would otherwise go to waste, you get cheap food, and there's less food waste! I have worked and do currently work in hospitality and it always disgusts me how much perfectly edible food most food businesses end up throwing out at the end of the day.

I've had this app for a few months and still haven't used it because I'm not sure whether you can be guaranteed vegan only bags but I will try it with some friends and get a veggie bag so they can have whatever I can't eat!
Olio
App Store | Google Play
This is a different kind of food surplus app, you and people near you can upload food or other items that they no longer need so that other people can come and pick it up for free. A great way to stop waste. There are people using this in Nottingham but I haven't seen anything I want to pick up just yet, I do love the concept of the app though!
Karma
App Store | Google Play
Very much like too good to go, you save food waste with this app. I think it's more the vibe that you buy individual dishes from restaurants that are going to be wasted otherwise for half price. Sadly it is not currently in use in Nottingham, if you're in London or another big city it's worth a go though. Another win, win, win.
Happy Cow
App Store | Google Play 
Worldwide
Not inherently about sustainability, Happy Cow is very useful if you're a veggie or a vegan (which an awful lot of people in the sustainability space are). it basically tells you where any local restaurants or shops selling veggie and vegan food are. Worldwide. I use this app whenever I travel and it has saved me so many times, especially when I was in Japan. Seriously if you're a vegan or vegetarian you need this app!



Transport
Bla Bla Car
App Store | Google Play
Bla Bla Car is a carpooling app, basically if you have a car then you can put up a trip you're going to be doing and earn some petrol money for taking other people with you. If you're looking for cheaper travel (cause let's be real trains are expensive) then you can look for a carpool for where you're going. Again this is one that probably works in big cities as the carpools from Nottingham are few and far between. Also I would be apprehensive using this because I am very safety conscious but it seems pretty easy to use and a cheap way to travel.


Plug share
App Store | Google Play
This is an incredibly niche app, but if you're someone who travels with an electric car it may be useful for you! Basically you can sort by the type of charger you need and find plugs to charge your car at! It seem to be quite busy in southern Europe and the USA but it is not so much in use in the UK, they have over 300,000 ports worldwide.
Misc
Joulebug
App Store | Google Play |
If you're competitive and you care about sustainability then this app is for you. You can complete challenges and compete against other people in sustainability.


Ecosia
App Store | Google Play
A search engine that plants trees! Screw giving all your information to google to make money off, Ecosia uses the money it makes to plant trees instead.I feel a little guilty that it's taken my until now to use it as  my search engine instead of google but I finally bit the bullet and am not going back. I was worried that it might have the search functionality of sites like bing and yahoo but it's as good as google for general usage, and as of now I have planted 666 trees by using it (on my laptop, the apps sadly aren't linked)! It has apps too and can be used as a default browser on phones which is awesome! The only downside is that it doesn't have the functionality that google scholar does, but maybe soon. It does have a new feature where it highlights sustainable brands and companies doing good by putting a little green leaf next to them which is super useful

I don't know why you wouldn't use Ecosia, go plant trees by just using the internet please!
My Little Plastic Footprint
App Store | Google Play
This is a cute little app for anyone trying to rid one use plastic from your life. When you first log in it asks you what you've gotten rid of so far, and then gives you a score! You can then continue to check things off, and it gives helpful alternatives and information on how to use less plastic. If you're new to plastic free living this is a very useful app to help you along, and it's just a really nice way of seeing how far you've come/where to go next.
Plastic Patrol
App Store | Google Play |
Plastic patrol are a company that use people to track plastic pollution through their website and app, as well as organising litter picks which include SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) litter picking; I wanna go so far! With their app you can post plastic pollution you find in your area to help with scientific research as well as helping you! You can also get involved in their litter picks and get involved in trying to rid the natural environment of plastic.

Fairtrip
App Store | Google Play 
Fairtrip is like happy cow for sustainable and ethical living. A fair tour guide. It shows you restaurants, hotels, events, and more all over the world who are making a positive environmental and social impact. It takes a lot of the hard work out of trying to travel more sustainably and ethically, the last thing you want to do on holiday is spend loada of time trying to find local places that are actually local, and are actually helping local people, the local economy, and the environment. I am 100% going to use this next time I go travelling, for both planning my accommodation for the trip and where to eat and shop. It currently only has 3000 places worldwide but I am hoping that this will grow in the coming years.

I may well go in and add my own things from my previous travels too.
Oceans Zero
App Store | Google Play
This is another app where you complete challenges to become more sustainable. From using tote bags and making sure cigarette butts are going in the bin there are 25 actions you can take part in so far. It gives you comprehensive information about why the task is important which I really love - as a science gal I love facts. And it's a really simple little app which is an amazing introduction to less waste and sustainable living.


So that's it for these apps! If you have any apps like this that you swear by then let me know in the comments and I will add it to this post! I hope you have found this useful, and enjoyed the video content (there will be much more of that). I will see you again very soon!

If you want to know about even more apps then check out Besma from Curiously Concious' post.