Show HN: Crowd-sourced sustainability search for cafes, rests., & refilleries

[alexandermorgan]

EcoRate is a sustainability search app that helps you find and evaluate cafes, restaurants, and refill stores based on how eco-friendly they are. What is "eco-friendly"? EcoRate focuses primarily on how much single-use waste is produced on-site in the way normal orders are fulfilled. For example, cafes that serve dine-in orders in reusable cups are rated higher than those that use single-use items. Their higher ratings also make them appear more prominently on the map. EcoRate also has filters you can apply to show which cafes use mugs, let you bring a thermos, etc. For zero waste stores you can even do an inventory search to more easily find the item you're looking for without all the superfluous packaging, though that's still in development.

I recently added over 500 restaurants from the Surfrider Foundation's "Ocean Friendly Restaurants" program whose members participate in several rigorous sustainability initiatives. Earlier this month I also added the "Good To Go Cups" cupshare network to the map.

The app is crowd-sourced, so you can help others find great low-waste venues by reviewing them yourself. The EcoRate website and mobile apps are free and ad free, so if sustainability matter to you, I hope you find it useful. The sustainability-ratings app space has had many entrants, and little to no successes, so feedback is immensely appreciated!