[napsterbr]

Here's an idea to help "viralize" tree planting, especially among younger folks.

How about a tree social network? A website/app that incentivices the person to plant a tree and adopt it as a pet. The person plants a tree, names it and takes a few photos. A profile is then created.

The person can find nearby trees to socialize. Some cute artwork may help engaging people. Snapchat-like filters could be used to "dress up" the tree, further increasing cuteness (and the engagement).

People keep score by how many trees they've planted, which gamifies the process.

This may sound crazy (and possibly it is) but hey, it may just work.

If you (or anyone else) like the idea, I'd be more than happy to help build it, with the condition that it should be open source. Email is on profile.

ETA: Open source condition

[shoo]

City of melbourne trees have email addresses. People write to them: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-12/people-are-emailing-t...

You can discover the email address of each tree using the map here: http://melbourneurbanforestvisual.com.au/

[gitgud]

You can send a tree an email?

The Future is here!

[persona]

You may wanna look at what Alipay is doing with their Ant Forest, which is a behavior gamification turning into planting trees. https://www.alizila.com/how-alipay-users-planted-100m-trees-...

[mstaoru]

Just keep in mind that users are not the ones who is planting the trees. Users generate revenue for Ant Financial, which in turn donates some of its profits to 2-3 NGOs that actually do plant something somewhere.

[highhedgehog]

Hey, that might be cool! I could try working on it in spare time, would you like to write down ideas?

[napsterbr]

Just brainstorming here, hopefully someone can further develop those ideas.

- I think it should feel more like a game than a social network. More like Pokemon Go than Facebook. I'd gamify as much as possible.

- Some people want to plant trees and are able to do so. Others aren't. Maybe they don't have the time, or they live in a concrete jungle. I think the project should focus on both segments.

- Those who can't plant, whatever the reason, may want to donate to projects that would plant. And those who can plant, may need guidance (where to buy seeds? where to plant? what to plant? etc). This website should facilitate both cases, as much as possible.

- Let's say that for each dollar donated, one tree is planted. That number (trees "remotely" planted by the person) should be made public, as some sort of virtual currency.

- Ideally, trees planted as proxy (via donation) would be photographed and shown to the donor. Unfortunately that's not practical.

- I think each person should have their own profile (with their own name, picture) and they could create a "sub-profile" for each tree. Not sure about this. But having a separate profile (login) per tree would actually be a problem for those planting lots of trees.

- (Or, using a better analogy for "sub-profile", people = Github profile, trees = Github repositories)

- This "sub-profile" could be similar to a Facebook group. You can post "life events" of the tree, photos, comments, etc. You can browse other people's trees (and their own, actual profile as well).

- Each tree planted by the users may have a location at the world map (provided by the user). This way we can show nearby trees and fellow "tree planters".

- We can have mini-games like "visit/photograph/'collect' trees near you". Similar (to a certain point) to Pokemon Go. When completing such mini-games the person is rewarded with the virtual currency.

- People may use the virtual currency with their own trees or others' trees. Not sure actually what they could spend it on.

- I really like the idea on sister comment from @secfirstmd. I think integrating related concepts further improves the platform.

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Also, something important to remember, is that this website alone likely wouldn't get anywhere near OP's objective of 1 trillion trees, but it certainly can make an impact on awareness, or at the very least increase people's contact with nature (even in large cities).

[mksmsrkn]

+1 on gamifying it, newly planted tree could be used as a in-app bonus/item/assets

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talking about social networks - such things can easily be adopted by companies like Facebook, if they simply put a planted tree counter next to everyone's profile, (allowing those how can't plant to donate for others to plant) it can lead to competitions among friends/family/groups to be #1 planters and do lots of good.

[adamzk]

I think too much focus on the trees. To get to a trillion we need 125 trees per person on the planet. Removing those who are not in an area where tree planting is possible and cannot viably get to one, those who don't care, and those who simply cannot (children, disabled, etc) we are probably looking at tens of thousands of trees per person. I think at that point a tiered leaderboard would be more effective. Naming and photographing 10,000 trees is going to get old fast but getting to Forest Ninja level before your friends has some appeal to it.

Also there needs to be some system of logging (lol) which areas are ok to plant (avoid messing with earth's albedo, fire prone areas, for example) and among those which have not yet been planted. This will require and a way for users to check off what they've already covered and a collaboration with some organization who can say which areas are ok to plant and what types of trees will grow well there)

Furthermore there's needs to be an instructional aspect as to how to properly plant trees (seeds are a bad idea because they require regular follow up until they have sprouted). Saplings are a better bet which will require a list of places to get sapplings.

Ideally saplings will be free for users which will require coordination with governing bodies in every country that participates in order to subsidize the cost either at an individual level or directly to the suppliers. Either that or some kind of ad-incentive program for suppliers who are willing to donate.

It would be ideal if the suppliers rented tools as well and provided top soil and Schultz (growth mix).

This stuff has to come from somewhere. Either private equity or big brother. Should ask MacKenzie Bezos. She'd be down. Bono would be all over it. Bill and Melinda too. Maybe a live8 style benefit concert or something. Orr.. here we go, let people who can't go out and plant pay for the supplies for other people to do so. So you can have points for paying for trees. Points for planting them and triple bonus for doing both yourself because that's just awesome.

Or a mix of all the above. Pool the funds and then allocate them to suppliers when users indicate that they want to go to that location and get started. Really well suited for management by an app.

The app should also facilitate group efforts like matching groups of people in the same area with a nearby planting zone so they can rent a bus for a saturday and make a trip to somewhere a little less local.

I'm trying to think of ways to make this as frictionless as possible. Like i have an afternoon to kill and maybe some friends who would be down so I open the app. I need a map with available planting areas nearby and also sources for saplings. Do I have a car? A car with lots of space? Just a bike? Can I afford to fund this myself right now? Based on this are there any opportunities nearby? Maybe a notification based on those criteria if my location changes? Like maybe I'm on vacation and I need something to do or I'm driving somewhere and could stop for half an hour if the stars align.

[secfirstmd]

Cool idea. Can we incorporate other stuff into this social network? Like rare animal sightings or Bee monitoring?

[IloveHN84]

You are talking about Ecosia

[jammygit]

Ecosia seems to send your IP address with search terms to bing. Other than that, they seem great

[hluska]

I absolutely love the idea! Unfortunately, I have a young child and little free time so I can’t be of help, but best of luck!!