Apps to celebrate Earth Day on its 50th birthday

The Earth Challenge 2020 app can help you become a citizen environmentalist. Credit: Newsday/Earth Day Network
Poor Mother Earth. With natural disasters, climate change, pollution and pandemics, it’s a difficult time for the planet and all who live on it. Wednesday is not only Earth Day, it also marks the 50th anniversary of the worldwide event to celebrate, honor and protect the planet. These apps can bring some green into the current colorless days.
JouleBug
(iOS, Android; free)
JouleBug gives advice on how to go green and also save money. Making ecology kind of a game, JouleBug rewards you with achievement points when you do green things like lowering your water heater's thermostat. JouleBug also recommends taking a small bag with you outside to pick up any loose trash, a nice idea for stay-home-Long Islanders getting some exercise with neighborhood walks. (If you do this, make sure you wash your hands before touching your face.)
Earth Challenge 2020
Android; free)
This app from the not-for-profit Earth Day Network helps you become a “citizen environmentalist” by recording things such as air quality and plastic pollution where you live. Most of all, it’s an education app spurring you to learn more about how you can get involved in cleaning up the planet.
Garden Manager
(iOS, Android; free)
You probably have more time to tend to your backyard garden this year, and this app will help your plants and vegetables bloom. Tell Garden Manager what you’re growing (it’s also good for house plants), and the app sends you notifications when it’s time to water, feed and fertilize. Take photos of your crops as they go from seedlings to adults, and track their progress on a graph.
Earth Now
(iOS, Android; free)
Sometimes, you can better see a loved one’s health from a distance. This app, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, shows the Earth from space and uses various filters so you can visualize the planet’s “vital signs” in several categories, including carbon dioxide, air temperature and ozone. Is the Earth getting less polluted because of all the coronavirus quarantines? You might be able to tell from the time-lapse data presented on the app.
Remote work gear selling fast
Home office equipment was “flying off the shelves” in the first quarter as remote work became a necessity during the coronavirus pandemic, research firm Canalys said. Demand for Windows computers, workstations, webcams and printers “exceeded expectations,” Canalys said. But demand, especially for PCs, outstripped supply because of shortages for computer chips made in China, which was hit first by the pandemic and closed factories.
— PETER KING
Sound idea
Remember those annoying sounds and noises that exasperated you in the office? If you’re working from home, maybe you actually miss them. German business consultant Kids Creative has created a website (imisstheoffice.eu) featuring typical office sounds including keyboards clacking, printers being operating, water coolers gurgling and coworkers muttering indecipherably. Unlike the real office, if the sounds become too annoying, just turn them off.
— PETER KING
Apple ships millions of face shields
Apple is designing face shields for medical workers, chief executive Tim Cook said. Cook said that its design, engineering, packaging and operations teams are working with suppliers to get the shields made and shipped. The shields are fully adjustable and assemble in less than two minutes, Cook said, adding that Apple plans to ship more than 1 million shields every week.
— BLOOMBERG NEWS
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