For the second year in a row, Pokémon GO developer Niantic is hosting their annual Earth Day Cleanup, an event where they encourage their users around the globe to do their part to clean up the environment by offering in-game rewards. According to their blog, last year, 4,200 devoted Pokémon GO Trainers joined together at 68 events across 19 countries in the name of Earth Day, and cleaned up almost five tons of trash. This year, they are encouraging their players through global rewards within Pokémon GO: particular kinds of Pokémon and items will be available if certain numbers of players cleaning up are met. Players can participate by going to featured events, or by tagging Niantic Labs online using the hashtag #AugmentingReality to tell them about their cleanup efforts. This implementation acts as use-case for how location-based entertainment and augmented reality (AR) can encourage consumers to interact with a brand and do something great for the planet at the same time.
“As an organization with millions of players around the world, we see it as part of our responsibility to help ensure things such as ocean pollution and global warming are at the forefront of conversation and action,” Niantic said on their blog. “We invite Niantic players and community members to join us in attending a cleanup near you and help protect the planet.” The company is partnering with Playmob, a London based phil-tech platform seeking to create “socially-conscious audiences globally through video games,” as well as 15 other organizations around the globe. Once the clean up is done, these partners will be implementing projects focused on re-growing areas that were once laden with trash.
With the upcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, it seems possible that next year’s Earth Day could have wizards as well as Pokémon trainers helping to save the planet.
