When switching to a more sustainable way of living all the swaps & changes you have to make can seem quite overwhelming, especially at the beginning. That is why I have complied this list of some of my favourite apps which will help make sustainable, eco living easier & more accessible for you. I learnt a lot whilst putting this post together & it definitely highlighted the importance of living in a more slow, considered & mindful manner to ensure we reduce our negative impact on the planet as well as showing that community is key & that if we all work together efficiently & effectively we can win the fight against climate change. All these apps are free to use, with only a few featuring in app purchases.

1. Too Good To Go (Europe) - This app allows you to save surplus food from local shops, restaurants & cafes by offering discounted meals at the end of the day which would otherwise have gone into landfill. Simply place your order via the app, you will be given a collection time, then just pop to the store to collect your order, simply showing your order in the app to a member of staff. The app also features a blog full of helpful waste reductions tips & links to local charities with the option to donate.

2. CodeCheck (Europe) - By scanning the barcodes on products this app will tell you how sustainable, eco-friendly & suitable for you each item is before you commit to purchasing it. You can change filters to ensure the app looks out for things that are of high priority to you e.g. vegan or palm oil free & it also offers alternatives when a scanned item does not meet your needs. Food, cosmetics, household cleaning products & so much more are available in their database which means shopping more consciously just became a whole lot less confusing.

3. Depop (Global) & Vinted (Europe) - I've grouped these two in together because they effectively do the same thing & no doubt you've probably heard of or used at least one of them before. Depop & Vinted are brilliant apps for buying & selling unwanted clothing & accessories. Sellers often include discounts when you buy clothing bundles & if you don't mind spending a little extra time hunting you can often find branded pieces at super affordable prices. Buyer reviews also allow for a reliable shopping experience with sellers being rated on quality of goods & service provided. A great way to get new clothes on the cheap or make some extra money for yourself, win win.

4. Eat Seasonal (UK & Ireland) - A simple yet helpful app that tells you what fruit & vegetables are in season in your area & offers recipes & nutritional information about that produce, making it easier to eat seasonally & therefore more sustainably.

5. Whisk (Global) - Designed primarily to help reduce food waste by making meal planning & food shopping easier. With features such as recipe saving from sites outside of the app, meaning all your recipes are in one place, you can also pull ingredients from your saved recipes to create a shopping list as well as having access to hundreds of community recipes.

6. Olio (Global) - An app all about connecting neighbours, encouraging them to share more & waste less. Whether it's excess food, clothing or other household items you no longer have a need for, Olio puts you in contact with other "Olioers" so you can give items away, completely free of charge to avoid waste whilst brightening up someone else's day & building a stronger sense of community spirt. The Olio app also offer a separate section called Olio Made, where a community of local makers can buy & sell homemade & handcrafted goods to each other.

7. Ecosia (Global) - A search engine that uses the ad revenue from your searches to plant trees. The transparency of this company is amazing & their website is well worth a read to see exactly where all their hard work is going in the fight against climate change.

8. Happy Cow (Global) - If you're Vegetarian or Vegan this app is for you, particularly if you are visiting a town or city you're not familiar with. Happy Cow allows you to search for plant-based restaurants, cafes & shops near you.

9. Good On You (Global) - An ethical fashion app where you can read informative articles on sustainable fashion, learn about new ethical brands & find out whether the companies you already know (& love) are as eco-friendly as they would like you to believe. A great way to avoid the greenwashing so many clothing companies have recently been pushing on us with a rating system & breakdown on company/ brand practices as well as links to top sustainable online clothing stores, helping us become more conscious consumers with ease.

10. Dairydrop (UK) - If you're a milk drinker but don't want to continue buying it in plastic bottles from the supermarket why not sign up to Dairydrop, where (providing there's a dairy in your area) you can order fresh, glass-bottled milk & dairy products straight to your door step. Many of these farmers also sell other forms of produce such as eggs, vegetables & in some cases plant milks so this is a great way to support local business whilst reducing plastic pollution at the same time.

11. Litterati (Global) - A community lead, worldwide data base that uses it's findings to empower individuals & organisations to make positive changes for the environment. It works by getting users to photograph & tag items of rubbish they come across when out & about, providing valuable data to use as proof when asking for local council & government policy change. It also allows users to keep track of their own personal litter picking, acting as a motivational tool to keep taking action.

12. Refill (UK) - Refill simply allows users to find clean & safe water sources where you can fill up your reusable water bottles. Great especially when travelling in unfamiliar areas & the app also allows users to add new stations when found if they are not already located on the map. Links to brands selling reusable items such as water bottles, coffee cups & food containers are also included on the app.

13. Fat Llama (UK & US) - This app allows you "to rent (almost) anything" from people living in your local area. You can borrow or lend out items ranging anywhere from clothes to game consoles, gym equipment to camping gear. Both short & longer term rentals available.

14. Treeapp (UK & Ireland) - You can plant a tree, every day, for free, simply by tapping through three pages of information/ questions by sponsored eco-companies on the app, it's literally that easy! You choose a reforestation project that you would like to support, click through three messages/ questions from a sponsor (always an eco-friendly/ sustainable company) & that's it, tree planted. The app then tracks how often you plant trees so you can see how much of your global emissions you are offsetting by tree planting. It also gives you the option to donate funds to help plant extra trees & offers a link to the WWF website so you can work out your personal global yearly emissions to see if/ where there is room for you to improve in your day to day life.

This is no way an exclusive list, there are literally hundreds more apps out there making it easier to switch to a more eco-friendly lifestyle, these are just some of my favourites & ones that are particularly simple & easy to use. Please share any of your favourites in the comments below & also please note if these particular apps aren't available in your country it is always worth checking to see if there is a different version that is available where you are.