The RESET App Check: Shopping Responsibly with the Right Apps

Nowadays, there are a multitude of apps promising to make sustainable shopping easier. But do they really do this? We put some of the most well-known apps to the test.

Autor*in RESET , 09.05.16

Nowadays, there are a multitude of apps promising to make sustainable shopping easier. But do they really do this? We put some of the most well-known apps to the test.

How do I know which products have been produced under fair conditions? Which cosmetics should I avoid because they contain harmful ingredients and microbeads? Can I buy fish without threatening marine ecosystems? How can I find clothing that has not been made using child labour? There are a number of hurdles to jump and lots of questions to answer for anyone looking to shop responsibly.

The first step towards conscious consumption is knowledge. But that does not mean you have to become a walking encyclopedia. It’s more about knowing how and where to find helpful information. At RESET, we try to close this gap by illustrating useful tips in our Knowledge and Act Now articles. But what do you do when you are already in a shop and you need information quickly? Countless apps providing details on sustainability purport to come to the rescue.

But how helpful, user-friendly and transparent are they really? The entire RESET editorial team put some of the most well-known apps under the microscope. Over the next two weeks we will take a look at:

This article is part of our RESET Special on sustainable consumption. You can find all the articles in the series here.

Never Read Another Food Label Again! This App Wants to Do the Work for You

Is that apple really organic? What is actually in that face cream? The new "HawkSpex mobile" app from the Fraunhofer Institute uses the existing technology inside your smartphone to check the credentials of all kinds of different products.

Hungry? The MealSaver App Will Feed You, Save You Money and Help Reduce Food Waste. You Are Welcome.

It's late in the evening, you've been out all day. You're hungry, tired, and have no idea what's in your fridge. Sound familiar? The app MealSaver can help you scoop up lovely restaurant food wherever you may be in Berlin, save yourself some hard-earned cash and be part of a growing movement to combat food waste.

The RESET App Check: a Complete A – Z of Sustainable, Fair Products with Ethical Barcode?

Finding out a product’s or manufacturer’s track record on sustainability, climate change, fair labour and more often means consulting numerous apps and websites; hardly ideal for the time-poor shopper. The Ethical Barcode app looks to aggregate third party data on all these subjects but how effective is it? We put the app to the test.

The RESET App Check: aVOID-ing Child Labour with a Web Plugin

What can consumers do to combat child labour in the fashion industry? The plugin aVOID filters users online shopping trips to help shoppers avoid buying clothing and goods that have been produced under exploitative conditions. We put it to the test. 

The RESET App Check: Think Dirty Helps You Clean Up Your Act

We all use numerous products on a daily basis to be clean, smell good and look our best. However, do we ever think of the health and environmental impacts of the products we use every single day? If you’ve ever taken a look at the ingredient list of a typical beauty product, it probably seemed too daunting to research every single ingredient. The good news: you don’t have to.

The RESET App Check: Finding Energy-saving Appliances with EcoGator

Are you looking to get rid of your old refrigerator but want to avoid buying a new one that guzzles energy? EcoGator might be able to help your decision-making process. We took the app for a spin.

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The RESET App Check: Buycott Aims to Uncover Brands’ Affiliations

Many shoppers probably do not want to their grocery dollars ending up in the pockets of defense companies. But it is not always so easy to see where our consumer coin ends up. The Buycott app aims to lay bare a brand’s affiliations in order to facilitate conscious consumption. But how reliable is this app? We tested it out.

The RESET App Check: Sustainable Seafood at Your Fingertips with the Good Fish Guide

Our appetite for fish is big. According to WWF, two-third's of the world's fish stocks have been exhausted or are overfished. To counter this, a number of organisations actively build awareness about which species of fish are sustainably farmed and which to avoid. We tested out the Good Fish Guide app to see how it helps consumers make sustainable seafood choices.

The RESET App Check: Does GoodGuide Make Green Shopping Easier?

Making ethical and sustainable decisions when we shop can be difficult. You're in the supermarket aisle and reach for a bottle of shampoo, asking yourself, has this product been made under fair labour conditions? Were the ingredients sustainably sourced and could any of them be harmful to health?