One of the best ways to improve your impact on the planet is by simply disposing of things in a more responsible way. That means recycling whenever possible. Luckily, iRecycle (Free, Universal) makes the process simpler by showing you how and where you can rid yourself of various materials in an environmentally friendly manner.

Most people don't think about the process of how a product is made; they simply focus on the end result. But what happens during production can indicate a lot about an item and the company that made it. GoodGuide (Free, iPhone) can tell you how a product and its maker score in areas like energy efficiency, climate change impact, personal health, and more.

Trying to reduce your impact on the environment sounds like a particularly heavy task to take on. It doesn't have to be all business, though, if you use EcoChallenge (Free, iPhone). This app encourages you to participate in various challenges that will help you lead a more sustainable lifestyle. You can even take on friends via Game Center to see who improved the most.

Taptu is a popular news reader app that allows you to "DJ your news." If you'd like to keep a environmental focus on your news feed, try out the Taptu Guardian Environment (Free, iPhone) app. It keeps the custom stream style of Taptu that pulls in content from around the web, but places emphasis on topics like ethical living, climate change, energy, and the like.

We all live in constant conflict when it comes to our vehicle usage. Many people absolutely have to use a car to get to work or various other destinations, despite knowing the impact that cars can have on the environment. Find out just how necessary your automobile is and how easily you can get to nearby destinations without wheels using Walk Score (Free, iPhone).

It's hard to say just how big of an effect your lifestyle has on the environment without sitting down and calculating how much electricity and heat you use, along with traveling. Offset4Poor (Free, iPhone) will help you figure out the size of your carbon footprint and point you toward options for offsetting your emissions in ways that can also benefit others.

One of the many things we forget about on a day-to-day basis are the many electronics that we have plugged in at any given time, even if we aren't using them. Those appliances push your electric bill up whether they're on or off. Green Outlet ($0.99, iPhone) can tell you exactly how much an appliance is costing you so you can save on your bill (and your environmental impact).

Grabbing food at the grocery store can be a bit of a mindless task – many of us simply snag something familiar off the shelf and keep walking. If we knew how some of those foods came to be and what went into them, though, we may be more hesitant. Try out Locavore (Free, iPhone) and let it point you to locally-produced foods and fresh, organic options.