Give trees a chance!
Who: You, gentle reader
What: Vote for a project that could get funded by American Express’s Members Project to plant 1 million trees and to use Second Life to educate people about environment and what we can do to preserve it. Or - just go to vote for any project you find worthy of your support; American Express is donating $1 for each member who is registering to vote.
Where: At http://www.membersproject.com/Environment_Wildlife/991 (or look for the project titled “The Virtual Forest Project. 1 million trees. Easy.” on MembersProjects.com)
When: Until Sunday, July 15
Why: Because…
- you care about environment
- it’s a cool idea
- it brings together real life and Second Life in a meaningful way
- it’s the only AmEx MembersProject program that is using social media
Background & disclosure: American Express’s Members Project is an initiative that will allocate between 1 and 5 million dolars to 5 projects that were suggested and voted by AmEx cardholders. Plant-It 2020, a non-profit organization, has been selected as the ‘fulfiling organizations’ for one of the top 50 projects. The project, called The Virtual Forest, is linking Second Life and real life in a simple way: for every (virtual) tree planted in SL, a tree is planted in the real world to combat deforestation. The project is already up and running in SL; my company, Converseon, has built the Second Chance Trees island; the funds are used by Plant-It 2020, our partner, to plant the trees in RL.
More information:
- My friend and colleague Paull Young has an in-depth post about the project and our approach on his blog and on our corporate blog
- Watch our machinima video on YouTube to learn more about the project
- Visit the Second Chance Trees Island (SLurl)
- Take a look at the photos took on our island
- Visit the project’s website.
Thank you.
Jeffrey Treem said:
July 12, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
My Blue Card and I have voted. Good luck and way to put your talents behind such a great cause.
Constantin Basturea said:
July 12, 2007 @ 10:06 pm
Thank you, Jeffrey! Much appreciated!
Caroline Wilson said:
July 14, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Thanks for highlighting this. It’s a great example of helping people connect with something that can seem very remote. It’s also a great example of engaging people using social media.
Just so long as people don’t just get used to offsetting. It’s the crutch, not the mended leg.
benjamin tuck said:
July 18, 2007 @ 2:14 am
This website purports to do charitable work, but does all of the dollar go to planting trees and purchusing trees? Or am I in effect giving 30 cents to the trees and 70 to their staffers.
I agree with what Caroline said and would like to add: While clicking a button may make one feel that one is making a difference, we are so far removed from the actual deed that in effect we are doing little other than moving pixels. One of my friends went to New Orleans for two years of gutting houses and working with church groups, that is truly making a difference. Thus we need to be proactive like my friend and change how we live and consume, not just click a button or cut a check.