I remember when I used to play Angry Birds 10 years ago when it was still new. But then I got my first full-time job and I realised I spent too much time playing games so I removed them from my phone. It stayed that way for many years… Until lockdown happened earlier this year and I remembered how I used to fly these famous birds to destroy these nasty pigs. The game is now even better than it was before. But what if I told you that Angry Birds (among others) can also help save the planet??

“There’s something like three billion people with mobile phones and half of them are gamers. As an industry, we have a massive reach in comparison to other entertainment mediums. We feel like there is an opportunity and increasingly an imperative for us to do something.”

John Earner, Co-Founder of Space Ape

“Play for the Planet”, it’s pretty catchy. How does it work though? It’s not that easy to see the link between mobile games and environment… Well, if you consider that the video games industry is the fastest growing in the world, it would be a shame not to use its reach for a good cause! It’s becoming urgent to act now for the planet, so the biggest names in the gaming industry are acting together to create real-world impact via their most popular games. Now they’re on a mission to create environmental themes and raise awareness by gamifying real topics!

“We’re excited to see the gaming industry throw its weight behind global efforts to reverse the climate crisis. The climate emergency needs all hands on deck. In reaching out to 250 million gamers, we hope to inspire audiences to take climate action.”

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme

I didn’t realise Angry Birds was so invested in saving the planet until I noticed that event on my screen a few days ago – All players from the entire world having to pop as many pigs as possible to reach the goal of 6,500,000,000 (it gives you an idea on how popular this game is). I thought the initiative was absolutely brilliant so I had to share it with you. The link when you tap to find out more is Plant for the Planet.

It turns out Angry Birds has been fighting against climate change for many years already! I’m still unsure how I missed previous campaigns such as Angry Birds Friends: Champions for Earth (“Angry Birds get angry about climate change”) back in 2005. This makes me feel more hopeful about our future, it’s the youngest generations that we need to educate about the impact of global warming and it’s mostly for them that we need to save our planet. This is definitely a great step in the right direction.

So… How many pigs have you popped so far?

Big Girl x