Website Promotes & Rewards Eco-Friendly Choices

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Local charitable entrepreneur launches Healthy Planet

Created by locally born and bred Shaylesh Patel an innovative new website designed to promote and reward healthy, eco-friendly choices, went live on Earth Day.

With the aim of building a Healthy Planet for ourselves and for future generations to enjoy, www.healthyplanet.org is a charity centred on supporting protected areas of the Earth through engaging individuals and businesses in sponsorship and research, carried out from the comfort of their own armchair.

Unique to www.healthyplanet.org is the website’s state of the art Google technology which allows sponsors or “Land Guardians” not only to view and monitor the land they have adopted but also to put their name to it, which will be visible to other users surfing that part of the Earth. This not only recognises the Land Guardian’s contribution but also encourages them to have an ongoing input into the management of that land.

Further reward for sponsorship comes in the form of a points system. For the whole of Earth month, until 22 May 2008, the website is offering double points (1,000 points) for simply registering on the website and, in return for land sponsored, more points will be offered. These can be used to sponsor more land or can be redeemed as vouchers for Holland & Barrett, Body Shop and other high street retailers.

Additionally, once you register and adopt your chosen piece of forest or park, you are entered into an online forum with other Land Guardians contributing to that specific protected area. Land Guardians are kept informed of conservation projects by the national parks authorities or major conservation NGOs taking place in the Park and will have opportunities to vote for certain projects to be prioritized; to receive annual reports and state of the art satellite based monitoring of conservation; and to donate more funds for extra work. Akin to a “Facebook” group, these online communities are able to liaise with other Land Guardians within the Park, as well as people working on the ground, bringing their charitable donation truly to life.

For those looking to further increase their eco credentials, www.healthyplanet.org offers a chance to participate in research activity from your home. As a Healthy Planet researcher, you will be able to zoom into your selected land and will be responsible for tagging particular land features for conservation-based research projects. You will have your name recorded on the landmark that you have identified and will ultimately be helping Healthy Planet map the Earth’s protected areas through Google Earth, all while remaining in the comfort of your armchair.

Dr Mark Mulligan, co-founder of Healthy Planet as well as Doctor of Physical Geography at King’s College London, comments, “Our aim for Healthy Planet is to give individuals a way of contributing towards creating a healthier planet for ourselves and generations to come. It is not designed as a battering ram for consumers who are already bombarded with a million messages of environmental concerns. Instead, we want to empower the individual, who often feels helpless in the face of such huge issues to do their bit, on their terms.

“We know that lifestyles are busier than ever, which is why we are encouraging ‘armchair volunteering’, offering a range of online options for individuals looking to effect positive change – from adopting plots in protected areas through to hands-on research tasks. We hope Healthy Planet will encourage the individual to help making that change – both for the environment and for society as a whole. We want to encourage an armchair volunteer revolution!”

Adopting 1 sq km or 247 acres – roughly the size of 140 football pitches – of a protected area starts at £45 annually (or payable in installments of £4.75 per month) or there is an option to sponsor a plot of land forever at £2,225. In lowland tropical forest this area would contain an average of 58,000 trees.

April 24, 2008