This post was written by Louise Baker. Louise writes about online schools for Zen College Life, where she ranked the best online colleges.

MeterRead is an innovative app that people can use to monitor their electricity consumption. All they have to do is scan their electric meter using their iPhone or iPod  touch interface, scan the meter again at any time, and MeterRead will tell the user exactly how much electricity they have used during that time period. Even better, it will predict how much electricity they will use over the next thirty days! By making conscious efforts to cut down on electricity usage, they can check it again at the end of thirty days and hopefully use less than the previous month.

2) greenMeter ($5.99)

Another useful app is greenMeter, which measures how economical the a user’s driving habits are. This app computes a vehicle’s power and fuel usage statistics and also evaluates driving habits while the user is driving to recommend changes to their driving style. The app uses the accelerometer to determine the drag and resistance generated by driving habits in real-time. The app offers several meters to choose from, such as miles per gallon in real-time.

3) shopgreen ($0.99)

Shopgreen is an app that, by using a questionnaire about regular behavior, rewards people for engaging in eco-friendly activities. The app tracks and logs these activities, and the amount of carbon dioxide saved by each one is calculated and also tracked. The carbon dioxide savings translate into discounts at local participating retailers, which means saving money in addition to carbon dioxide. The app is designed to reduce people’s carbon emissions while giving them specific monetary rewards for doing so.

4) 3rdWhale Media’s Find Green (FREE)

Like plenty of other apps and Web applications, 3rdWhale finds local stores and businesses. However, 3rdWhale has an interesting twist: they find “green” stores and businesses, allowing users to patronize shops friendly to the environment, putting their money where their mouth is. It lets users select which distance parameters to use, whether walking, biking or driving. Thus, the app broadens users’ horizons while giving exposure to environmentally-friendly businesses, a useful combination.

5) Yowza!! (FREE)

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