17,000 Niantic players helped collect 145 tons of trash around the world for Earth Day 2019

Niantic has revealed 17,000 Pokemon Go and Ingress players around the world collectively volunteered a total of 41,000 hours to collect 145 tons of trash in the name of Earth Day 2019. The impressive feat brought the player communities together with non-government organisations to collect rubbish from various different locations across the globe and raise awareness about the environment.

According to Niantic, over 300 player events were hosted across 41 countries and six continents to help make the world a greener place. “We’re astounded with how much everyone involved has achieved - an effort like this highlights how much impact people can have when they work together”, Niantic said in a blog post about the event, “Players worked in groups of 1 to 2,500, alongside government agencies, volunteer organizations, and fellow community members, creating incredible impact.”

✅176 NGO hosted events & 300 player hosted events in 41 countries✅17,000 players volunteered 41,000 hours ✅145 tons of trash collectedRead more about how the @Ingress & @PokemonGoApp communities blew us away with their #EarthDay contributions: https://t.co/tuLI7N0j7f pic.twitter.com/YI9zJmX2ZZMay 3, 2019

Niantic also shared some of the efforts made by different non-government organisations and players. Pure Earth came together to hold an educational workshop in the Philippines to collect trash and create “eco bricks” - which are made out of plastic bottles filled with rubbish - to show how they could be used as insulation, or reinforced with mud to make durable walls. And a group in Taiwan used the event to run an educational program in a local elementary school to teach the students how greenhouse gases influence the Earth, and what they can do collectively to help reduce waste.

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This is the second year Niantic has brought its communities together for Earth Day. Last year, Pokemon Go’s Earth Day Clean Up event saw 4,200 trainers across 19 countries collect 6,500 Kgs of waste. To raise awareness for the cause, Pokemon Go holds special limited-time events, with this year's event seeing an increase in grass types, as well as giving players the chance to catch a shiny Diglett up until May 2.

The amount of work and effort that went into the event is truly outstanding, and it just goes to show how wonderful gaming communities can be when they work together.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.