The Sandbox Unveils Zero Carbon Plan to Foster Environmentally Friendly NFT Ecosystem
Emanuela
(29. June 2021 18:12
)
The Sandbox Unveils Zero Carbon Plan to Foster Environmentally Friendly NFT Ecosystem
Gaming metaverse unveils bold strategy to reduce environmental through layer 2, carbon credits compensation and trees growing charity support actions impact by up to 99%
HONG KONG – June 29th, 2021 –The Sandbox, the virtual world built onto the blockchain and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has unveiled a Zero Carbon plan to address the environmental impact of NFTs with a multi-step strategy currently in development. The Sandbox team is seeking to bring creators and gamers together in a persistent virtual world that provides secure ownership via NFTs while using up to 100 times less energy than traditional blockchain transactions.
The Sandbox has laid out several commitments in reducing environmental impact:
New Efficient Technology: The Sandbox is migrating to a new eco-friendly NFT layer 2 technical solution this summer that will use up to 100X less energy than Ethereum.
Carbon Removal Offset: The Sandbox has begun acquiring carbon credits for reversing emissions with carbon removals via blockchain based platforms, such as Nori and Offsetra, providing transparency on the compensation. The company has already calculated its carbon footprint associated with NFTs for 2021 to be equivalent to 350 tonnes of CO2 and acquired $Carbon Credits. Check Nori Sandbox Certificate of Carbon Removal. In addition, The Sandbox also purchased 200 tonnes of CO2 removal credits from Offsetra. You can visit The Sandbox's profile page to view the impact and proof of certification.
Tree Growing: The Sandboxhas renewed its partnership collaboration with WeForest, a forest restoration charity it previously partnered with in 2014 to plant nearly 9,000 Mangrove trees in Madagascar, and committed that for every hectare users buy of virtual LANDS in The Sandbox, 1% of proceeds goes to WeForest to protect and restore forests in Ethiopia, Zambia and Brazil. The Sandbox will engage with additional nature protection foundations in its ongoing efforts to make a real impact in the physical world. You can follow The Sandbox's tree regrowing progress on the WeForest website.
The Sandbox wants to set the standard for transparency and best practices in the world of NFTs and encourages a healthy discourse about the tools that can be used to reduce environmental impact and the uses of NFTs and blockchain technology.
"The Sandbox is committed to building a vibrant and environmentally friendly gaming ecosystem while fully supporting secure content ownership, creating new jobs and offering economic opportunities" said Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-Founder of The Sandbox. "As a pioneer in the blockchain gaming space, we're taking steps to mitigate energy usage by up to 99% now, and will continue to look for additional solutions such as our engagement with WeForest to protect and restore forests in Ethiopia, Zambia and Brazil."
In the meantime, The Sandbox has recently launched the beta for its Marketplace, allowing artists from the Artist Fund to monetise their NFTs. They have pledged to reduce the number of minted NFTs while improving the technical functionality of the Marketplace. To support the artists from the Artist Fund, NFT drop events will continue while waiting for the new environmentally-friendly technology to come online.
Under the new efficient technology powered by Polygon, NFT mining will generate less than 1% of the carbon emission that it currently produces on the standard Ethereum blockchain. The Sandbox is also considering other options that are currently in development if a more efficient technological solution were to appear.
This commitment to addressing the environmental impact has led The Sandbox to partner with Nori, who were part of 2019s Techstars Sustainability program. Nori coordinates the creation and administration of carbon removal projects, starting with regenerative agriculture projects that store carbon in soil thanks to the large co-benefits including water retention and improvements to soil health and quality. Through working with Nori, The Sandbox will be responsible for a number of Nori Carbon Removal Tonnes (NRTs), each NRT representing a tonne of CO2 removed from the atmosphere and stored in a terrestrial reserve.
"The team at The Sandbox is paying attention. They see that this is not a zero-sum game; we can innovate in technologies like blockchain and take care of our environment," said Alexsandra Guerra, Co-Founder of Nori.com. "The time when businesses define success only by the bottom line is now antiquated; we need to look at the double bottom line: profits and impact, as The Sandbox is doing."
"One of Offsetra's co-founders, Damien Schuster, @damshoey, was one of the first LAND buyers," said Andrew Bonneau, Carbon Markets Advisor at Offsetra. "Our team of crypto natives is thrilled to help The Sandbox reduce its emissions and help drive sustainability forward in unique metaverses like theirs."
