Since there are no currently active contests, we have switched Climate CoLab to read-only mode.
Learn more at https://climatecolab.org/page/readonly.
Skip navigation
Share via:

Pitch

Imagine a system turning your movement into environmental wealth - allowing you to own a tangible and positive environmental impact.


Description

Summary

There is immense value in traveling, it is one of the ultimate freedoms of our modern age. Many of us are only confined by a growing awareness of our environmental impact.

You've seen signs the airport or at checking in allowing you to offset your travel. These options are popping up everywhere, yet these options are obscure untangible, "Did I pay for new windmill or cookstove somewhere in some poverty-stricken village?" We have no direct connection to our offset and for most of us, it is hard to believe that our offset efforts are actually offsetting our travel. 

We need a direct connection to a positive environmental and social impact. A Tree Token is just that. It is a simple digital asset based on the incremental growth of a tree. Trees not only trap carbon, but they actively cool our atmosphere (transpiration cooling is a real thing), and they are tangible, something you can see and even go visit. Imagine, going on vacation and taking a few hours to go visit your positive environmental impact, or just checking your phone after your flight to see who you employed to offset your travel for you, perhaps you chose a refugee in sub-Sahara Africa or a women's group in Latin America? 


What concrete idea do you propose?

Millions of travelers are already offsetting their carbon footprints. Airlines are seeing the value, as consumers are turning more environmentally conscious. What is lacking is the ability to directly connect the individual to their positive environmental impact. We are creating an opensource, data-driven verification system that allows the traveler to be directly digitally connected to and own their environmental offset.

We do this with a technology stack that allows the employment of individual foresters by incentivizing the growth of individual trees.

Many airlines and rideshare platforms are already planting trees. Imagine if Luthansah airlines started valuing tree tokens and excepting like airmiles. This system allows them to corporations incentivize the traveler to support reforestation efforts while beyond the flight.

https://treetracker.org/?token=YourOffSet 


Who will take these actions?

As an open-source system, we are collaborating with organizations around the world. These organizations range from tree planting organizations, humanitarian organizations, and businesses. 

Tree planting and reforestation is being touted more and more as part of the solution to climate change. For both planting organizations and businesses, we create a way to verify, showcase and transfer the value of their reforestation efforts. 


Impact/Benefits


What impact will these actions have on sustainability within Travel & Mobility?

A single passenger on a flight from Anchorage, Alaska to New York, New York adds about 1 ton of carbon to the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of about 1 tree for 40 years. However, there is a growing awareness that land use is also a major driver in climate change and, although potentially much larger, these effects are not easy to calculate. 

 


About the team members

GreenStand is an opensource community and invites you to join us as we create a system that allows consumers and polluters to own their positive environmental impact. We have a diverse background in technology, science, public health, and conservation.

You can learn more about the community here: https://greenstand.org/greenstand/community