When was the last time you made a purchase that planted a tree? Or earned a badge as a reward for offsetting your carbon emissions? In today’s world, it’s easy to see why these “green apps” are growing in popularity. Consumers are more conscious than ever before of the potential to do good with their purchasing power, and these tools have emerged as a useful way to help people minimize their environmental impact in areas of life where real-world realities limit our alternatives. This is especially true in transportation and air travel, where it can be challenging to find eco-friendly options. And when you’re choosing to make purchases of products that are sustainably made, green apps can even amplify the positive impact of your purchasing power. 

But here’s the thing – green apps aren’t a silver bullet. While they can serve as useful tools in reducing our carbon footprint, they often fall short when they aren’t linked to the actual product or service someone is buying. Instead, this means that while the app might make us feel better about our purchases, it doesn’t actually address the underlying problem. 

In the worst-case scenario, green apps can serve to provide an “absolution of guilt” for a purchase, even when that purchase has a lasting negative impact on the planet (we’ve all been there!). For example, if you go on a fast fashion haul full of unsustainably made clothing, planting a new tree or buying a carbon offset won’t undo the damage done. It’s crucial to recognize that green apps are only one tool in a larger effort to reduce our environmental impact. 

While green apps are definitely a step in the right direction, we must remember that they’re just one piece of the puzzle. And alongside it, one of the most impactful things you can do is make fewer purchases and then buy products that minimize your impact because they were made sustainably from the start.