More iPhone Apps to Help You Improve Goodness

Back in April, we gave you a list of five iPhone apps that make you a better person. Now that we're heading toward the end of the year, we thought we'd provide another five to get you ready for improving goodness in 2010.

Catalista: Only available in the United States, this app lists volunteer opportunities in your area, offering both a list and map view. It gives brief profiles of each opportunity, lets you sign up, provides the option of sharing with others via e-mail or Facebook, and you can also rate each opportunity on a five-point scale. And the app is free.

GoodGuide: Much like the ShopSavvy app I profiled in November, this app allows you to scan the bar code of a product. The difference is, once the bar code is scanned, this app gives ratings for the product based on the health, environmental and social impact of the product. There are tens of thousands of products in the database, with categories for food, personal care, household cleaners and toys. This app is free as well.

Kiva Alerts: This app was developed to track loan requests on Kiva.org, the site that helps people with unique entrepreneurial ideas get out of poverty by providing them with micro-loans. Loans can be sorted by primary activity, amount, field partner, country or field partner rating, so you can find the most appropriate places to help with a loan, and the app costs nothing.

CauseWorld: Every time you walk into certain stores, this app lets you collect what they call "karmas." Then, you can donate these karmas to help support different charitable actions of your choice. When you download the free app, it provides you with a list of stores in your area where you can collect karmas, along with a list of places where you can donate, including places like American Red Cross, Room to Read and Carbonfund.org.

Seafood Watch: The famous Monterey Bay Aquarium has an app that helps people make good seafood choices, based on sustainability. You can find the best seafood in each part of the country and it also offers a sushi guide, with the Japanese name or the common market name. Plus, the app profiles each fish, so you know what you're eating (or avoiding). And, yes, it's also free.

Photo courtesy of Apple