What if we told you that you could plant around 30 trees a month from the comfort of your sofa? All you’d have to do is watch a few ads from eco-conscious brands and download a free app. Sound too good to be true? Turns out, it isn’t!
Here at Zixty, we don’t just offer eco-conscious temporary car insurance. We also love to spotlight other companies that are doing their bit for the planet. And today, we’re looking at Treeapp.
Treeapp is a brilliant way to plant trees for free. In exchange for a few seconds of your time every day, a tree is planted somewhere in the world on your behalf.
But what exactly is Treeapp? And how does it work? Read on to find out.
What is Treeapp?
Treeapp is a mobile app that allows users to plant one tree for free daily. The app also helps organisations raise awareness about their sustainable products and services by connecting with users.
It does this by showing its users ads from eco-friendly businesses every day. The eco-friendly businesses, in turn, sponsor tree-planting initiatives through Treeapp.
The app launched back in 2020, but it’s already made a massive impact on areas affected by deforestation all over the world. Since its inception, Treeapp has helped plant more than 3,000,000 trees (correct as at 26th October 2023).
But to do that, they need your help.
How do I get started with Treeapp?
It’s so easy to get started with Treeapp. You can download it from the AppStore or Google Play store in seconds. Then open the app, put in your mobile number, fill in an activation code and a quick registration form, and, voila! You’re ready to plant your first free tree.
You can plant one free tree a day. The app tells you where the tree will be planted too. For example, you may be planting a tree in Madagascar one day, and in Tanzania the next.
Source: Treeapp screenshot
Your tree will usually be sponsored by a sustainable brand that works with Treeapp. You’ll need to watch a quick ad before your tree is planted.
Once this is done, you’ll receive confirmation that you’ve planted your free tree for the day. The screenshot below shows what that looks like.
Source: Treeapp screenshot
While you’re only able to plant one free tree a day, you can always opt to plant more if you’re feeling generous. You’ll need to pay a monthly fee to do this, but you can choose exactly where you want to plant your trees. Or, you could let the app allocate your trees where they’re most needed.
Between the free trees you get to plant every day, and the paid trees you could plant if you chose to do so, you could offset your carbon footprint every month.
And that brings us to Treeapp’s other nifty feature – a tool which measures the impact your tree planting has on your carbon footprint.
Treeapp’s carbon footprint feature
If you don’t know your carbon footprint, you’ll be allocated the carbon footprint of the average person in the UK. But, you can find out exactly what your footprint is by using a special calculator like the one available via the WWF – it’s also linked through Treeapp.
Once you’ve done this, Treeapp will tell you exactly how many trees you need to plant each month to offset your carbon footprint. You can either plant free trees by coming back to the app each day, or you can opt for a membership where you plant a set number of trees per month and pay a fee. Or, you can do a combination of both.
Whatever you choose, you’ll be doing some good for the planet every time you log on to this app.
Learning about conservation efforts through gamification
You’ll be learning all about conservation as you navigate the gamified tree-planting experience. Each time you come back to the app, you’ll be prompted to plant a tree in a specific region. When you’ve planted enough trees, you’ll unlock that region.
You’ll then be told a little bit about its natural habitat and why it’s in need of reforestation. Once you’ve unlocked Madagascar for instance, you’ll be informed about its native species and flora and fauna. You’ll also find out that 80% of Madagascar’s woodlands have been cut down making it difficult for wildlife to survive.
And if you grew up in the 2000s with the iconic film Madagascar, you’ll know exactly why it’s so important to restore Madagascar’s natural habitat.
Source: Treeapp screenshot
If you click through on the region you’ve unlocked, you’ll find out all sorts of additional information about how many trees have been planted, what species are being rehabilitated, and how much carbon has been captured as a result.
In Madagascar, for example, Treeapp has helped plant the equivalent of 1,753 football fields across two sites so far. They’ve helped rehabilitate native species such as the dugong, hawksbill turtle, and mangrove tree.
Sidenote: If you ever want to visit Madagascar and see the trees you’ve planted recently, give Booksmart a try. It will help you book the most eco-friendly route to your destination.
Other Zixty Spotlights
If you’d like to read more about other green initiatives, why not head on over to the Zixty Spotlight: National Trust tree planting scheme, or check out Giki Zero – a neat solution to help you understand and reduce your carbon footprint. Not content that you’ve done your bit? Great! Why not check out 21 of the best planet friendly apps that will help you reduce your CO2 creation, share more of the world’s precious resources, and offset your CO2.
