Ready to go in two minutes
Required after download MLPF Registration via email, required only to deliver the newsletter (optional). Furthermore, the app proves to be data efficient and, at least in the version we tested (v2.4.1 for iOS), does not require any additional approval from the user. Notifications can be turned off with a tap on the “Settings” menu item. All information about data protection and terms of use can also be found there. These are user-friendly, as the provider does not use cookies for marketing purposes and excludes the transfer of personal data to third parties for advertising purposes.
Determined after asking about age, place of residence and your own habits when dealing with plastic items MLPF the individual “Plastic Mass Index” (PMI). The value provides information about your personal contribution to plastic pollution. This needs to be reduced by using the app diligently. To do this, you first need to select the plastic items and product groups in various categories that you continually use in your everyday life.
Positive vibes from the start
What is particularly commendable is the app’s offer of being able to deselect from the start the use of plastic products that you already avoid – consciously or unconsciously – in your everyday life. Even people who have not yet delved into waste prevention and recycling will be able to find what they are looking for here and will be able to immerse themselves in the app experience with a good feeling. The remaining products are PE, PVC and PET, manufactured with the support of MLPF needs to be banished from everyday life. You put yourself on a “plastic diet,” as the app calls it. To do this, you choose from six categories bathroom, Kitchen, Leisure time, To remove, Garden It is Home Identify exactly which plastic items you want to avoid or replace with environmentally friendly alternatives. If successful, you will be rewarded regularly with virtual rewards.
Good tips with a little detail
Until now, the language barriers of the app, which is only available in English and Dutch, have been limited, mainly thanks to the meaningful and inviting illustrations. To follow the numerous advice on how to avoid plastic, at least good school English is essential. The quality of the tips ranges from the obvious to the helpful to the surprising, which is to be expected given the range of products covered, from disposable coffee cups to artificial grass. Particularly commendable MLPF is the basic information about plastic consumption included in the advice. Knowing that a person uses an average of 300 toothbrushes throughout their life or that a piece of clothing is only worn an average of seven times before going to waste significantly increases the ambition to save plastic. Less useful, however, are references to Dutch authorities and companies that offer more information on the subject or to environmentally friendly consumer packaged goods, which are unlikely to be useful for German-speaking users.
Less plastic – more English!
You can spend at least as much time on the numerous quiz questions as you would if you were implementing your individual “plastic diet”. MLPF to spend. In each of the previously mentioned areas of life, you will have to play five levels with five questions each. There are also some special quizzes, for example on ocean pollution. Reliable knowledge of English and an interest in climate protection through plastic prevention, supported by research facts, are mandatory. As the game progresses, the questions become more specific and the answers more surprising, but also more complex and less immediately understandable. The good thing about this: After typing two dozen questions and answers about the almost unbelievable extent of the environmental impact of microplastics on textiles, this is a deeply satisfying increase in knowledge.
Conclusion
Serious criticism MLPF you have to look for it with a magnifying glass. Some tips and knowledge content are obviously aimed at the Dutch and North American target group; and the sporadic responses illustrated with videos caused my smartphone app to crash twice. But these are small things in view of software that is professionally produced in almost every respect, with exemplary user guidance and an attractive design. The quick success stories and practical advice for using less plastic in everyday life motivate you to stick with it. Who MLPF More with the app Replace plastic combined, which wants to eliminate unnecessary plastic before production, is fully equipped to combat unwanted plastics.