Five Apps That Help Small Businesses Reduce Waste And Go Green

Going green, or being more environmentally friendly, is a process. It is on-going and with each project, your organization can get better at it and reap more of the rewards – much like working out!

Here are five apps to facilitate that journey, focused on a key aspect of greening your business: waste reduction. Since waste reduction doesn’t just mean trash, these five apps address different aspects of reducing waste, to help your organization reduce its impact on the planet and make it easier to ‘go green.’

These apps are listed with a caveat that there are many apps out there, and of course, some will suit some businesses and not others. They are available on iOS and Android, and most are US-centric, with one also available in Europe. Check these out, see if they meet your needs, and see what else is available if these aren’t quite the right fit:

1. Paper Waste: PaperKarma (US)

Unwanted mail – aka junk mail – wastes paper and the resources paper is made of, including trees, water, and energy, not to mention the chemicals involved if paper is made from chemical wood pulp. PaperKarma is an app that helps you remove your organization from mailing lists (think magazines, catalogs, credit card offers, yellow pages, etc…), saving paper and related resources in the process. Just take a photo of the unwanted mail items and enter your address. According to PaperKarma, the service is effective in getting rid of about 90% of junk mail, with visible results starting 3-4 months of subscribing.

2. Waste to Landfill: iRecycle (US)

The iRecycle app was designed by Earth 911. Earth 911 has been helping organizations and individuals find recycling solutions since 1991, so they’re quite familiar with the recycling world. iRecycle provides ways to recycle over 350 types of materials. You can search by item type and your location, so if you are a small business and are looking to dispose of something that is non-conventional, this is the place to go.

3. Food waste: Too Good To Go (US & Europe)

Too Good To Go is an app that connects users with restaurants, hotels, supermarkets who have unsold food that is still edible and would be thrown out otherwise at the end of the day. They are in 11 countries in Europe and have over 24,000 partnering businesses large and small. According to the Guardian, they are also coming to the US. One partnership, with hotel chain Accor UK (think ibis, Mercure, and Novotel), saved 13,000 meals from being thrown out, while their website lists over 15 million meals saved.

4. Energy Waste: TED (The Energy Detective) Commander (US)

There are many energy-tracking apps out there for businesses to use, but if you’re serious about energy tracking, TED, which has been called by Popular Mechanics “ most comprehensive real-time electricity monitor on the planet”, is a great starting point. For the app to work, an accompanying device is installed inside the breaker panel, where it provides readings over existing power lines with a +/- 1 percent accuracy, per TED. You can then view your electricity usage in real time, plus your current rate structure, projected bill, voltage, highs and lows, and more.

5. Water Waste: Dropcountr (US)

Even though water isn’t as expensive as energy in the US, it is just as important to track and reduce its usage. And if you’ve ever tried to manage water use at your organization, you know how hard getting accurate data can be – much tougher than getting energy data. Dropcountr enables you to connect with your utility company and track usage and compare with others in your area, so that you can more mindfully manage water at your organization.

There you have it! Have you used any of these apps? Do you have a favorite that’s not on the list?

If you are thinking about 'going green', be sure to download our free sustainability checklist, which can enable you to get a snapshot of what your organization is already doing and provide additional actions you can take.