Pokémon Go gets green-fingered for sustainability week

Pokémon Go developer Niantic is teaming up with the eco-friendly search engine Ecosia to plant trees depending on how far players walk

A custom header image for Pokemon Go Sustainability Week with two images, split vertically. On the right, loads of Pokemon and trainers marching along in celebration. On the right, the logo for Ecosia, with the 'o' replaced with a globe.

Pokémon Go’s sustainability week kicks off tomorrow, and with it, developer Niantic teams up with Ecosia to plant trees. The company promises to plant a tree for every player who walks five kilometres. So, it’s time for all you grass types to get your boots on and take a hike (in a nice way!).

This promise isn’t limited to Pokémon Go’s sustainability week, however. You can also pick up Pikmin Bloom or Ingress, two other games from Niantic, to get those steps in. The company helping them to achieve this lofty aim is the search engine Ecosia, which donates the majority of its profits to aid afforestation.

While the benefit of tree planting is a little muddy, it’s clear their hearts are in the right place, which is commendable. Either way, the fact that Pokémon Go gets so many people outside and moving is good nonetheless. For more AR Poké-action, check out our Pokémon Go events guide or Pokémon Go Community Day rundown to keep up to date on everything going on.

Pokémon Go sustainability week

Niantic promises to plant a tree with Ecosia for “​​every gamer playing Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom or Ingress that moves 5 kilometres up to 100,000 trees a month.” They will do this for every community day until the end of July, meaning there’s the potential that they will plant 400,000 trees. You can check out the announcement tweet below.

That’s all the info we’ve got on Pokémon Go sustainability week. If you’re looking to catch up on the latest entry in the series, check out our Pokémon Legends: Arceus review to see if it’s the one for you.