Earth Day Guide 2013 - Netted
Guide • April 17, 2013

Earth Day Guide 2013

10 apps and sites to be a little greener
  • Krrb

    Prev 10 / 10

    They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and considering all the cool stuff on this local thrift classifieds app, we’d say they’re right on the money.

    Go to Krrb

  • Reforest Patagonia

    1 / 10 Next

    In the past century, forest fires have destroyed millions of acres of Patagonia. For $4 you can plant a tree to reforest the area and get a Google map of it’s location to show it off to your friends.

    Reforest Patagonia

  • Ataku Fake Shower

    Prev 2 / 10 Next

    This app emulates the sound of a shower or faucet (to prevent significant others from “hearing the sounds of nature in the bathroom,” as the app puts it) and informs you how much water is being saved.

    Go to Ataku Fake Shower

  • Epicurious Peak-Season Map

    Prev 3 / 10 Next

    The environmental and culinary merits of eating local are well documented, so use this map to figure out what’s in season in your area and how to cook it.

    Go to Epicurious Peak-Season Map

  • WWF Together

    Prev 4 / 10 Next

    There’s no better way to get inspired about the environment than to see the stories of how endangered animals are affected it on this app from the World Wildlife Fund.

    Go to WWF Together

  • Good Guide

    Prev 5 / 10 Next

    Lots of products say they’re green. This tool shows you which ones mean it. Search the site for items or scan product barcodes with the app to see how environmentally sound they really are.

    Go to Good Guide

  • Hope Phones

    Prev 6 / 10 Next

    Half a million cell phones (made of non-biodegradable materials) are trashed each day in the U.S. This charity turns old devices into donations to aid health workers in impoverished countries.

    Go to Hope Phones

  • Ecosia

    Prev 7 / 10 Next

    Search engines really rake in the dough, but imagine if all that money went to worthy causes? This search engine donates more than 80% of its revenue to protecting the rain forest.

    Go to Ecosia

  • iRecycle

    Prev 8 / 10 Next

    If recycling is so important, why’s it so hard to find the right bins? Let this app teach you how and where to recycle everything from light bulbs to televisions. It’s your guide to responsible trashing.

    Go to iRecycle

  • Zimride

    Prev 9 / 10 Next

    Carpooling is great for the environment, but what if nobody you know is headed your way? Catch a ride with a like-minded stranger on this ridesharing site.

  • Krrb

    Prev 10 / 10

    They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and considering all the cool stuff on this local thrift classifieds app, we’d say they’re right on the money.

    Go to Krrb

  • Reforest Patagonia

    1 / 10 Next

    In the past century, forest fires have destroyed millions of acres of Patagonia. For $4 you can plant a tree to reforest the area and get a Google map of it’s location to show it off to your friends.

    Reforest Patagonia



Article • May 12, 2010

House Proud

Get Rid Of Your Real Estate Agent Once And For All

Searching for real estate online is great, unless you want to get a feel for a new area.

Thankfully, Google has beefed up its real estate maps spinoff with some handy new tools that help give you a sense of a particular locale.

Search for a city, suburb or neighborhood. A sidebar to the left presents available properties (you can search for rentals or for-sale listings) while the map labels each property with an interactive red marker.

To learn more about a particular property, click on the marker. With the Street View tool you can walk through the area virtually. Zoom in and you can do a close-up on the exterior of the actual property.

You can also look for nearby businesses and do a directions search to get a sense of how easy (or challenging) your commute to work will be.

Another real estate site with new features is the old stalwart Trulia, which has added both rental properties and a new feature that allows users to search for bargains on foreclosed properties.

Not that we encourage you to kick people when they’re down, but…



Categories
Article • May 11, 2010

Find and Book Parking Anywhere You Drive

Ensure that you never drive around looking for a parking spot ever again with ParkWhiz

Finding a parking spot in a crowded urban area is one of those exquisitely frustrating experiences that modern life presents us with.

That’s why we’re surprised it took so long for somebody to come up with ParkWhiz, a nifty service that lets you reserve a parking spot weeks before you leave the house.

Create an account and choose the venue where you’ll need to find parking. The site covers airports, sports arenas, theaters and downtown areas in more than 75 U.S. cities.  You’ll pay for the spot when you make the reservation, and the price includes a small commission. (You print a ticket to take with you, guaranteeing your spot).

If you search for a specific venue the site will give you a list of dates and available spots, listed with their prices and distances in miles from the venue.

To search for parking along a given street, click on their “Downtown” tab and type in the address. The site gives you more options if you’re searching in a major city (LA, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and NYC are all well-supported).

The site even lets you post listings if you have a spot that you want to rent out. They’ll accept reservations for the spot, keep track of usage and even funnel payments into your account.

If only there were a service that got rid of traffic and bad drivers…



Article • May 10, 2010

Keep Track Of Your Life With An All-In-One To-Do Tool

Never forget a task amidst your busy life with Remember The Milk

Keeping track of your life is never easy, no matter how many different time management services you use.

In fact, having too many options is often a big part of the problem.

Enter Remember The Milk, a task management service that integrates all of your organizational programs into one intuitive, easy-to-use interface.

The site will send you alerts on Twitter, Blackberry, Gmail and Google Calendar. It even uses Google Gears to work when you’re offline.

Most of the management is done via the profile you create on the site. The Tasks page is where you add your upcoming responsibilities. Customize them by filling out time estimates, tags, locations, and even the number of times you’ve put off a given task.

Finally, label your entries as either Personal, Study or Work items (you can also customize these labels).  As time goes by, your Inbox will fill up with all the tasks you never completed (these are “overdue”) as well as those you have to finish in the next few days.

These items will show up everywhere you want them to—Gmail, Twitter, your IM client and your smartphone (they’ve released iPhone and Android apps).

The service is free, though power users may want to consider the “Pro” account, which costs $25 per year.

Or you can keep using those scraps of paper that litter your wallet.