Niantic Labs: 'Making Strides for a More Sustainable Future'

From Singapore all the way to Nigeria and all across the globe.

☆ NintendObs Weekly – Monday, April 29, 2019 – Sunday, May 5, 2019.

Making Strides for a More Sustainable Future

May 3, 2019

For the second year in a row, we’ve worked with non-government organizations and players around the world to help make our communities cleaner. And just like we were last year, we are blown away with the response from players and organizations who have made immense and positive impact. Through the hard work of these groups and individuals, and over the course of 3 weeks, we’ve blown through goals with:

176 NGO hosted events & 300 player hosted events

41 countries & 6 continents

17,000 players volunteered 41,000 hours

145 tons of trash was collected

Partnered with 46 NGOs

An overview map of where all Earth Day events occurred.

Singapore, One More Generation

Nigeria, Heirs to Our Ocean

We’re astounded with how much everyone involved has achieved – an effort like this highlights how much impact people can have when they work together. Players worked in groups of 1 to 2,500, alongside government agencies, volunteer organizations, and fellow community members, creating incredible impact.

Mexico, Orden de Guadalupe A.C.

Each one of the NGOs that we worked with did some amazing work across their communities, bringing together community members, players, and sustainability efforts for a better world. As an example, Orden de Guadalupe A.C. worked with players from the community as well as local government officials and volunteers to clean up approximately 30 tons of garbage. Volunteers focused on the areas that most need support, including the area pictured above. Special cranes were brought in to collect and remove the garbage floating in the dam. In all, the cleanup event led to the collection of a massive amount of trash, filling four garbage trucks and one special container.

Philippines, Pure Earth

Additionally, volunteers in the Philippines worked with Pure Earth to collect trash and create “ecobricks”, or plastic bottles filled with garbage, during an educational workshop. These ecobricks are then used as insulation or reinforced with mud to build durable walls.

Virginia Beach, VA, USA – Player group

Players have made massive impact in their communities around the world. One group in Taiwan turned their cleanup learnings into an educational program at Wucyuan Elementary School, a local school. They taught students about how greenhouse gases influence the Earth, and discussed what we can do collectively to help reduce waste. These players noted how the “kids are very happy to learn, and also have many questions about our environment. Finally, everyone has a great day, and know about our responsibilities to the earth.” Not only are players and community members out making the world cleaner, they’re working to support and build educational platforms that empower the next generation.

India, Centre for Action Research on Environment Science and Society

USA, Plastic Ocean Project

We’re grateful to have been able to partner with Playmob, who helped make sure that this campaign (as well as last year’s) went smoothly and that it created real, measurable impact. In addition, we are so excited to have been able to partner with so many amazing organizations who make it their mission to keep communities clean and actively identify ways in which we can make the world more sustainable. We look forward to seeing the additional impact work of our grantees, Pure Earth, One More Generation, Pacific Beach Coalition, Heirs to Our Ocean, and Plastic Ocean Project. Organizations like Jour de la Terre help identify proactive processes that can have lasting impact on what our world looks like in the future. We look forward to tracking the progress of our partners, as well as to celebrate the amazing success that each contributing individual has achieved during this campaign.

— Yennie Solheim Fuller, Social Impact

Source: Niantic Labs.