Can blockchains save the planet?
A slew of initiatives are using blockchain technology to solve age-old environmental problems.
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Editor's note: Founded in 2012, the SankalpTaru Foundation has significantly helped increase India’s tree cover. The New Delhi-based non-profit has planted 3.5 million trees across India—from guava plants in Maharashtra to mangroves in the Sundarbans. What’s unique is that for as little as Rs 149, paid through its website, anyone can fund a new tree anywhere in the country. A few days after the donation, SankalpTaru plants the tree and sends the donor an email and a WhatsApp message about what kind of tree it was and whose land it is planted on. Trust is key to this process. Who knows if the tree was planted at all? Or whether one tree was allotted to different donors? “In India, it is typical that when trees are planted, you never know where they are and how they are surviving,” says Apurva Bhandari, founder of SankalpTaru, over a phone call. To address this, SankalpTaru would earlier send a message to donors about the exact location of the tree planted. But recently, the foundation changed its strategy: it decided to move the tree plantation records …
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