Are you looking for new and creative ways to support your favorite cause. Do you have an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch? We’ve gathered five of the most interesting new applications, or Apps, whose proceeds go towards helping green the Earth, find local produce, prevent blindness and remind us what we can be thankful for.
iPhorest: An exciting new way to support the restoration of our forests. By downloading iPhorest, you activate a seedling both virtually and physically. As the seedling on your phone grows, users can also send seeds to other phones, starting a new forest.
For each virtual tree planted, The Conservation Fund will plant a native tree in real life — starting with the restoration of the vulnerable wildlife habitats along the Gulf Coast. Your $5 is not tax deductible but you can be a virtual conservationist — create a storm and when the sun comes out your tree begins to grow.
Share your tree growth at any stage with others by pressing the share button to email them a picture. Help green the Earth one tree at a time.
Locavore: A powerful yet simple application that allows consumers to find the freshest, most sustainable fruits and vegetables no matter where they live in the United States.
Utilizing built-in GPS and “location awareness,” Locavore finds a fresh food lover’s whereabouts and then shows them what foods are currently in season locally, and what is coming in season soon. Getting this information quickly, especially while at the market and trying to decide what to buy‚ means that anyone can get the freshest, tastiest and healthiest foods available year-round.
Locavore finds information about nearby farmers’ markets and food availability data from a collaboration of partners such as LocalHarvest.org, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and others to give users a real-time look at what’s available to them and where to get it. The application also connects users to recipes from Epicurious. Locavore is available now for $3 for the first 1,000 customers.
Find the freshest food close to home — life’s too short not to eat fresh fruit and veggies.
Gratitude Journal: Are you looking for a way to remind yourself of what are the positives in your life? Did you have a diary when you were a child? Here is a great app that recreates this experience for you.
With this Gratitude Journal application, you can create a journal entry of anything that you are thankful for that day. Add a photo if you like or anything that inspires you. There are six different themes, inspirational quotes and as you write, a monthly index is created for easy navigation.
Write down five things you are grateful for each day, for at least one month, and your life will change — for just $1. As Oprah Winfrey recently admitted, “The gratitude journal truly changed my life.”
And don’t worry; unlike the diary you might have had as a child this app allows you to password protect your privacy, and 10 percent of all profits are donated to charity.
Meter Read: Did you just move and you need to figure out what your new monthly electric bill is going to be? Are you trying to find ways to save money on your utility bills or just interested in doing your part to help green the planet? MeterRead, is a neat iPhone application that allows you to quickly read your electric meter and get lots of important feedback including total kilowatt-hour used, average watt load and estimated 30-day kilowatt-hour usage.
Check the meter with your air conditioning running and then with it off and learn how much you are using before the hot weather months turn your electricity bill higher. By learning what your electricity usage it, you can easily and quickly adjust your family’s habits.
For $3 this cool utility can help you save energy and money, plus make you feel part of the green movement. Gas and water meter reading interfaces are coming soon.
Understand your energy consumption — save money, energy and the planet.
Phospho: Do you find yourself fumbling for something you’ve dropped when it’s dark, or bumping into things like the corner of a nightstand when you get up at night? If so then Phospho is for you.
Phospho is a flashlight application for your iPhone or iPod Touch. This cool yet practical app shines a bright white light from the screen, illuminating your immediate vicinity. You can also specify an alternate color and switch between colors simply by double-tapping the screen.
Your $1 fee supports charities dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and cure of blindness in children and adults worldwide. So far $1,200 has been raised with 100 percent of the proceeds donated by Phospho.