Mommy Goes Green

I don’t know how I ever survived without my iPhone   iPhone apps are the coolest thing to happen to mobile technology.  There are tens of thousands of apps out there already and more created everyday.   Here are 10 of the greenest iPhone apps for moms :

1. What’s on My Food – search for specific foods to find out what kind of pesticides are on them and what chemicals are the most dangerous.  Compare organic to conventional foods.

2.  iRecycle- iRecycle makes it easy to find recycling locations anywhere in the U.S. Find places to drop-off your old cell phone (or water bottle or motor oil, etc.), get directions and find out what else they accept. And new to this version, iRecycle also now hosts information on local green events in your area and the newest stories and features on Earth911.com.

3.  GreenMeter – computes your vehicle’s power and fuel usage characteristics and evaluates your driving to increase efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and cost, and lower your environmental impact. Results are displayed in real time, while driving, to give instantaneous feedback – amazing!

4.  Whole Foods Market Recipes- find healthy recipes from Whole Foods with ingredients, directions, a store locator, and other handy features.

5.  Seventh Generation Label Reading Guide- ever at the store looking through all the ‘eco-friendly’ products but have no idea what is REALLY eco-friendly?  Use this label reading guide to decipher all the label ingredients and take the fear out of buying a new safe product.

6.  Kindle - read more than 400,000 Kindle books on your iPhone.

7.  CouponSherpa, Yowza and GroceryIQ- eliminate all the wasted paper of coupon clipping and the TIME spent doing it!  These apps let you search for your product,  show the check out person the coupon on your phone, scan the coupon and done!

8.  Good Guide – scan the bar code of any product to find detailed ratings for health, environmental and social responsibility.  Over 50,000 food, toys, personal care and household products.

9.  Reqall- instead of making your to do lists on paper (and then leaving it at home!), use Reqall to jot down your notes on the go.

10.  EWG Sunscreen Guide – I have this app downloaded and it makes it so easy to choose a safe sunscreen when I’m at the store.

If you have a favorite iPhone app (green or not!), share it with us here by leaving a comment!

Every couple of weeks, an article about cell phone radiation comes across my email and I read it, with some trepidation.   Awhile ago, I posted a list of ideas to reduce your exposure to cell phone radiation and I do continue to follow those but at the end of the day, it still worries me. 

The Environmental Working Group has just released research on cell phone radiation and the level at which your phone is emitting it.   Until now, I knew that Blackberry phones emitted high levels of radiation but I didn’t know my phone is in the WORST TOP 10!   Sounds like I’m going to be shopping for a new one.  Should you? 

EWG’s top 10 phones, based on low emissions:

• 1. Samsung Impression (SGH-a877) [AT&T]
• 2. Motorola RAZR V8 [CellularONE]
• 3. Samsung SGH-t229 [T-Mobile]
• 4. Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) [AT&T]
• 5. Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627) [AT&T]
• 6. Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459) [CellularONE, T-Mobile]
• 7. T-Mobile Sidekick [T-Mobile]
• 8. LG Xenon (GR500) [AT&T]
• 9. Motorola Karma QA1 [AT&T]
• 10. Sanyo Katana II [Kajeet]

EWG’s list of highest radiation phones:

• 1. Motorola MOTO VU204 [Verizon Wireless]
• 2. T-Mobile myTouch 3G [T-Mobile]
• 3. Kyocera Jax S1300 [Virgin Mobile]
• 4. Blackberry Curve 8330 [Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS]
• 5. Motorola W385 [U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless]
• 6. T-Mobile Shadow [T-Mobile]
• 7. Motorola C290 [Sprint, Kajeet]
• 8. Motorola i335 [Sprint]
• 9. Motorola MOTO VE240 [Cricket, MetroPCS]
• 10. Blackberry Bold 9000 [AT&T]

Search for your phone today and try to start incorporating some of these tips to reduce your exposure :

1. use a headset or speaker
2. hold the phone away from your body
3. don’t let your kiddos use a cell phone
4. text more, talk less ( ugh, I HATE texting )
5. use the phone only when it gets a strong signal