EPA's "Apps for the Environment"

The EPA held a contest this summer to challenge "app" developers to come up with a tool that uses EPA data. The apps can be used on smartphones. The top five apps are:

• Winner, Best Overall App: Light Bulb Finder by Adam Borut and Andrea Nylund of Eco Hatchery
• Runner Up, Best Overall App: Hootroot by Matthew Kling of Brighter Planet
• Winner, Best Student App: EarthFriend by Will Fry and Ali Hasan of Fry Development Company and Differential Apps
• Runner Up, Best Student App: Environmental Justice Participatory Mapping by Robert Sabie, Jr. of Western Washington University 
• Popular Choice Award: CG Search by Rajasekaran Bala of Cognizant Technology Solutions

I think my favorite for everyday use is HootRoot, which helps users map out the greenest way to get where they're going, but the Environmental Justice Participatory Mapping app can be an important tool in recognizing environmental discrimination. According to the website, it "give[s] citizens access to basic information on unregulated water sources and abandoned urnanium mine features. The map also provides citizens with the basic tools to visulize the spatial elements of potential environmental hazards"

Check them out! A full list of contest submissions can be found here. What's your favorite?