GetGreen: The Mobile App Empowering Individuals to Take Sustainable ActionGetGreen: The Mobile App Empowering Individuals to Take Sustainable Action

Taking sustainable action is not just for producers and big companies, it falls on all of us to think more eco-friendly to help our environment. The bad news is that there are a lot of people in the world who don’t know where to start, how to contribute or think being sustainable is a big chore. The good news is that the eco-friendly company, GetGreen, has created an app to simplify sustainability and empower users to make eco-friendly actions.

GetGreen, founded in 2021, is a Seattle-based company with a core vision to help create a world where the next generation isn’t overcome with fear of the effects of climate change. Brian Ringer, Founder and CEO of GetGreen, believes that the role of an individual is key in making a difference and GetGreen empowers individuals to take action against climate change through the ease of a mobile app.

“Mobile apps have been proven to be effective at things like fitness, dieting, learning new languages, and things like that,” said Ringer. “We saw huge numbers of people [who] want to do the right thing. [GetGreen] removes the boundaries and hurdles to provide a lot of proven motivational techniques and package them all up into a cool, fun application.”

GetGreen has created a dynamic mobile app (called GetGreen – Climate Change for users in regular communities) that simplifies sustainability for users, allowing and encouraging them to make measurable changes in their daily lives that positively impact the environment. The app has actions that users can interact with daily that lead them on a more sustainable path, while also offering up other advice to be more climate conscious. The app is also packed with trivia for users to learn more about how to properly recycle.

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In an effort to work closely with different circles, the GetGreen app is also available in specific cities, or at different universities and companies across the United States. Universities have proven to be a fertile ground for GetGreen’s program as the platform appeals to students who are eager to address the environmental challenges left by previous generations. Students can also partake in campus-wide competitions to earn prizes, which creates friendly competition between student groups or Greek organizations.

“My motivation for even joining the company was from a student perspective,” said Joshua Borichewski, Sustainable Partnership Lead at GetGreen. “My school has set these big, lofty climate targets and they’ve published reports that they update every five years, but the students know nothing of it in tangible ways, and we don’t have any guidance of what to actually do to help the school achieve those goals.”

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“When I came across GetGreen, I’m like, ‘this is exactly what we need, I want to bring [GetGreen] to the whole campus.’”

Giving universities, companies, and entire cities the tools to be sustainable is just the first step, but it’s all for nothing if the tools don’t get users to act. As well as being a great resource, GetGreen works to motivate users by giving them a sense of accomplishment in their communities. Ringer says that users have been receptive to social motivation, seeing that their actions are contributing to leaderboards measured by sustainable actions. The app also has stats involving the world’s greatest motivator: money.

“It turns out, [about] 70% of the actions on the app also save you money in some form,” said Ringer. “We also know that people love to earn financial rewards, so, that’s what we do. Joshua mentioned contests and things, those are huge motivators.”

Ringer also mentioned personal agency as a great motivator from the app as it can soothe climate panic in users by showing them their actions and how they’re contributing.

“You hear about climate anxiety and people will say, ‘Hey, I see what’s happening and now I’m doing something. I can show you what I did, I did these 12 things,’ and I think that reclamation of this, sort of, personal agency is a big motivator for people as well,” he added.

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Money and saving the planet are great starts for users but it’s easy to get caught up in our day-to-day lives, missing out on opportunities to act sustainably. With GetGreen, the team is working to create behavioral habits through education and repetition. Education lays the foundation for informed decisions, and GetGreen helps turn those decisions into habits, so, even outside of the app reporting, users are now taking that information to make sustainable actions.

GetGreen serves as a digital utility belt for users, equipped with tools to allow them to be proactive and informed in the realm of sustainability. While the app is available to all and has seen success in many communities, Ringer is looking forward to the future of GetGreen with ambitious goals. The team is continuing to work with new cities and communities to bring these powerful tools to all, including outside the United States.

Sustainability is a collective responsibility for all of us to participate in. While the challenge for many is that people don’t know where to start, GetGreen is working to take the first step for its users by offering a simple, user-friendly solution to empower communities to take meaningful steps to combat climate change. As GetGreen continues to expand its reach, the goal is clear: equip individuals with the tools to make a measurable environmental impact.

“We saw the role of the individual as key. We wanted to empower them to be able to have a positive impact and to take action on climate change,” said Ringer.