For many people, crypto is synonymous with environmental damage. While this might be true of Bitcoin, which has put over 200 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere and has x3 the environmental impact of cash, the picture is more nuanced for other coins. Ethereum was emitting around 11 million tonnes of carbon per year until the Merge cut that by 99.99%. Tezos has an annual carbon footprint of just 17 people and Polygon’s Green Manifesto commits to being carbon negative. A single transaction on Solana is less energy intensive than a Google search.
Public opinion is yet to catch up, but Web3 is also home to some of the most innovative planet-saving projects.
Moss.Earth
https://moss.earth/
Moss.Earth uses Tokenomics to repair the Amazon rainforest. Native MCO2 can be burned to fund environmental projects; burning one token is equivalent to offsetting one tonne of carbon. Investors who collect Amazon Forest NFTs gain ownership over a piece of the Amazon rainforest, protecting it from deforestation.
Regen Network
@regen_network
Regen is a science-driven network aiming to reverse climate change through research and investment in eco projects around the world. It does this through its marketplace, which allows farmers to monetize their data. That can be used by researchers to better understand and protect the natural environment, while farmers are rewarded for sustainable practices.
Plastiks
https://plastiks.io/
A marketplace like no other, Plastiks links plastic recovery projects with companies and individuals to sponsor plastic removal from the environment. All NFT sales on the marketplace fund this endeavour and are listed according to how much plastic their sale would recover. So far, nearly 1.3 million kilograms of plastic have been removed.
Ecosapiens
https://www.ecosapiens.xyz/
Ecosapiens prides itself on offering the first carbon-backed collectables. Minting an Ecosapien offsets a person’s entire annual CO2 footprint (15 metric tonnes) and that’s not all. By contributing more to the project you take more carbon out of the atmosphere and your NFT evolves, changing its appearance. Ecosapiens drops on 22.02.23 and will be hugely significant for the Green Web3 movement.
The Corals
@corals_nft
Coral reefs are declining around the world, but this Australian-based digital art project wants to change that. Featuring a series of sumptuous, colourful and hyper-realistic coral artworks, the project seeks to raise one million dollars for reef research, repair and preservation.
