Plan3t app offering planet coins as bonus for more climate-protection

23 November 2021

Three Hamburg-based founders seek to slash individual carbon footprint

A new app called Plan3t app is now urging users to leave their cars at home, switch to a green energy provider or eat only vegan food for a few days to make their lives climate-friendlier. Lukas Wehrhahn, joint founder of the Hamburg-based Plan3t start-up, pointed out: "We start with the ‘low hanging fruit'. Mobility, energy and food use the most CO₂. Yet, many people do not adapt these measures even though they know just how sensible those steps are." The app is essentially a reward system for sustainable consumer behaviour and was born during Wehrhahn’s studies. His brainwave was brought to fruition with his brother Kaspar and Christian Gärtner, who was working as a product developer at Freiheit.com Technologies. A beta version of Plan3t’s app went online in March and the final version became available in Apple and Google app stores in September and now has around 7,500 users.

In drei Schritten zu mehr Nachhaltigkeit

„Unsere App soll zum täglichen Begleiter für alle werden, die nachhaltiger leben möchten – und das in drei einfachen Schritten“, erklärt Wehrhahn. In Schritt 1 beantwortet der User eine Reihe einfacher Fragen zum individuellen Lebensstil. Die App berechnet daraufhin den jährlichen CO₂-Fußabdruck. Schritt 2 liefert Tipps zur schrittweisen Veränderung des Konsumverhaltens und lockt mit Challenges. Etwa kürzer oder gar kalt duschen – das Erhitzen von Wasser ist ein wahrer Stromfresser – oder eine Optimierung der Vorratsplanung, um Lebensmittelverschwendung zu vermeiden. Belohnt werden die Aktionen mit Planet Coins. In Schritt 3 schließlich können die erworbenen Planet Coins bei über 50 Partnerunternehmen eingelöst werden, darunter etwa Got Bag, Etepetete, Refurbed, Planted, Tier oder Flix Mobility.

Making sustainable consumption affordable

"Users can also donate their planet coins to social and climate projects. But above all, it's about making the switch to sustainable consumption affordable for everyone," said Wehrhahn. Although more and more people are concerned about climate change, they are often merely paying lip service, according to the founders. "There is a gap between 'intention and action. Around 65 per cent of Europeans would like to switch to sustainable consumption, but only 26 per cent actually do so. Asked why, 60 per cent say organic products are too expensive," he added. This is where planet coins might ease the switch.

Pan European expansion planned

The Plan3t app will be available in large parts of Europe next year. "We have positioned ourselves in Europe from the start and will launch an English-language app in 2022," says Wehrhahn. The app will be automated gradually in the coming months with the help of the European Open Banking Standard (PSD2). By linking the bank account, individual transactions can automatically be given a CO₂ imprint. Planet coins can be earned for purchases from partner companies." The app will be available initially in Scandinavia, Britain and the Netherlands as those countries are generally open to Open Banking,

Slash CO₂ consumption from eleven to three tonnes

Germany places great emphasis on data protection. Yet, more information is needed. "Naturally, we guarantee that all data is handled in compliance with data protection laws. We work with pseudonymised data and use only European servers," said Wehrhahn.

Plan3t recently raised EUR 750,000 during a pre-seed round of funding. The investors include the Berlin early-stage investor APX, the Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (IFB) and Marc Sasserath, Guido Syré and Mutabor founders Heinrich Paravicini and Johannes Plass, who are all well-known business angels in the German digital and advertising industry including. The founders will put the funds towards their goal of a largely greenhouse gas-neutral Germany by 2050."Everyone would have to limit their average CO₂ consumption to three tonnes to achieve the envisaged climate goals. However, the average is 11.5 tonnes," Wehrhahn pointed out. That requires a 10 per cent reduction annually. "Our users can easily achieve more!"

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