Plant a Virtual Tree in Second Life, Get a Real One Planted for Free!
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07.16.07
Those of you who spend part of your daily routines roaming the virtual landscapes in Second Life might find Second Chance Trees, an endeavor dedicated to supporting reforestation efforts, worth checking out. In essence, Second Chance Trees, a joint collaboration between the nonprofit organization Plant-It 2020 and the social media marketing group Converseon, manifests itself as an island in Second Life where you can buy and plant one of 10 species of endangered trees.
For the equivalent of 300 lindens (the in-game currency), or about $1.50, users can purchase and plant a tree on a designated virtual island in the game. At the same time, Plant-It 2020, which will receive all of the proceeds from the sale, will plant an equivalent tree in the particular endangered rain forest to which it is indigenous. "Our Second Chance Tree Project is an innovative way to allow individuals to immersively participate in a reforestation initiative by connecting their virtual world to a real world action," said Rob Key, CEO of Converseon.
The guys behind Second Chance Trees are now hoping to get the backing of American Express as part of its "Members Project," an initiative that allows cardholders to vote on which project should receive $1 million from the company. The project has already been chosen as one of the final 50 AmEx Members Projects. If it receives the most votes by the end of the competition (July 17), it will have the money necessary to plant 1 million trees in Second Life and, more importantly, 1 million trees in endangered rain forest regions around the world.
Those of you who have an AmEx card and are interested in voting for Second Chance Trees should head here while those you already plugged into Second Life can check out the virtual island here.
Via ::EcoGeek: Help Second Chance Trees Plant 1M Trees (blog)
See also: ::Second Earth: the World Wide Sim, ::Trend Day in Second Life: the Eco Way to Travel, ::Second Life Meets Architecture for Humanity
Jeremy, thanks for your support with this post.
Unfortunately, voting closed last night ahead of the top 25 projects being announced tomorrow and another round of voting.
It does not seem likely that the Second Chance Trees project has made the final 25, but another reforestation project (with a confusingly similar title) has been the second most popular and will certainly make it to the finals.
Your users can visit our Second Life Island to plant a virtual tree any time they choose - thanks to the online chatter about the American Express Members Project finals we've just had our most successful planting week to date!
Whats the ratio of trees planted to each avatars server energy use?