A number of years in the past, Brian Ringer was visiting glaciers within the Canadian Rockies together with his household. That was when he realized his children wouldn’t have the ability to have the identical expertise after they had been older due to the local weather disaster.
“Until one thing radical modified, we had been irreversible adjustments to the planet,” Ringer mentioned. “It was time to cease worrying about local weather change and rooting from the sidelines. The time is now to take motion and get immediately concerned.”
Ringer, a former government at Napster and RealNetworks, is the CEO of GetGreen, a brand new Seattle startup for customers and companies who need to assist combat local weather change. He co-founded the corporate in 2020 together with his former colleague and Microsoft vet Jed Stafford.
“We felt from the start that there are lots of people, together with leaders in enterprise and group organizations, who need to do extra for the atmosphere however don’t know the place to begin,” Ringer mentioned.
GetGreen‘s app gives sustainable alternate options to every day habits, merchandise, and providers. Customers can observe progress by incomes inexperienced “leaves” — every accounting for 10 kilos of prevented carbon emissions — after finishing climate-positive actions.
GetGreen additionally helps organizations and companies with a personalized set of sustainable challenges for workers, each at dwelling and within the office. In-app video games supply alternatives for collaboration and competitors, and progress will be seen by companions and clients. Organizations can convert emission discount “leaves” to help firm initiatives. Month-to-month charges begin at $250 and may price up to a couple thousand {dollars}, relying on the group’s dimension and customization ranges.
Earlier this yr, GetGreen held a pilot program with college students on the College of Washington the place they may fund campus sustainability initiatives with the inexperienced “leaves” they earned. After two months, every pupil accomplished about 30 actions, serving to keep away from greater than 10 tons of carbon emissions.
This week the corporate launched GetGreen+, a premium tier of the app permitting customers to cash-in “leaves” towards a selected licensed carbon removing undertaking, for $5 a month.
In response to Ringer, the corporate helps customers get entangled in sustainability initiatives and construct new sustainable habits not like related apps that solely observe carbon footprints.
Ringer mentioned he needs he began the corporate earlier, however extra public help on local weather change motion lately has helped it develop.
“We’re not seeking to change minds, we’re offering a means for folks to do what they already determined they need to do,” Ringer mentioned.
The ten-person firm is presently elevating a pre-seed spherical and has already obtained funding from Grid Catalyst, a Minnesota-based clear vitality accelerator, and Seattle-based angels.