by Turner Now (Turner’s internal blog)
If the rotation of the Earth really makes your day, just wait until you hear what we have in store this April.
In honor of Earth Day 2019, AT&T and Turner’s Adult Swim have partnered with the Captain Planet Foundation to help inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. The co-branded efforts include the “Hope Island Recovery Challenge” and the launch of a brand-new mobile game, “Captain Planet: Gaia Guardians,” available now on Apple App Store and Google Play.
Produced by Adult Swim Games, the new virtual adventure allows players to join Captain Planet on a mission to restore damaged trees on Hope Island and fight eco-villains polluting the world.
“It was a great experience for our team to create this fun and engaging game for fans,” said Liz Pate, vice president of production operations for Adult Swim Games and connected devices. “Our partnership with the Captain Planet Foundation and AT&T helped accomplish the game’s ultimate goal to raise awareness for global responsibility via dynamic gameplay with an iconic hero.”
For indeed, the mobile game was not only designed with entertainment value in mind, but to also create real-life impact.
From Earth Day (April 22) to Arbor Day (April 26), AT&T will donate $1, up to $100,000 to the Captain Planet Foundation for every tree players save in the game. All proceeds will benefit the Project Learning Garden, a program that supports local schoolyard gardens and sparks curiosity through hands-on learning.
“This Earth Day, AT&T is making it easy and fun for everyone to make a difference,” said Charlene Lake, senior vice president – corporate social responsibility and chief sustainability officer, AT&T. “Through the ‘Hope Island Recovery Challenge,’ we’re turning in-game actions into real-world contributions to the Captain Planet Foundation to create more outdoor learning spaces at schools.”
Though gardens in schools may seem like areas for flowers to flourish, the Captain Planet Foundation knows they actually serve a much higher purpose: key instructional centers. Gardens are great places for imagination and ideas to thrive; they become much more than just greenhouses and gardens, transforming into on-school learning laboratories where concepts from the classroom come to life.
“Math in the garden is fantastic,” said Leesa Carter, President and CEO, Captain Planet.
“For example, when students are learning division or graphing, doing a square foot garden activity and understanding how many seeds you can put in the area is a really fun way to help kids understand math concepts easily.”
But that’s not the only thing to love about school gardens.
They also provide opportunities for students to taste and develop a relationship with fresh fruits and vegetables from a very young age. According to Carter, research trends show that the earlier kids acquire a pallet for fresh food, the healthier their diets become over the course of their lifetime.
“We want to raise awareness for the environment and inspire care for the planet every day,” says AT&T’s Charlene Lake. “But we have such a great opportunity especially on Earth Day, and there’s no better superhero to do that than Captain Planet.”
Lucky AT&T and Turner employees will get a chance to spend the holiday with the honorable hero who helps bring pollution down to zero at their Dallas and Atlanta headquarters. On his Earth Day visits, Captain Planet will help raise awareness about the environment, offer information about each company’s environmental initiatives, volunteer opportunities, and hand out some sustainable swag including re-usable metal straws and seed packets.
Both AT&T and Turner will also be holding Earth Week employee volunteer events to help build outdoor learning gardens in local communities funded by the “Hope Island Recovery Challenge.”
But this mobile challenge is just one way AT&T is working toward creating a better, more environmentally sustainable world. From its 10x Carbon Reduction goal, and its large- scale renewable energy investments, to its actions to minimize waste and build climate resiliency, AT&T is helping to care for the planet through numerous environmental programs and initiatives. More information is available at att.com/environment.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to help Captain Planet save the world one player and Planeteer at a time!
Play Adult Swim Games’ new “Captain Planet: Gaia Guardians” mobile game now, available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play. And help spread the word and recruit others to join the cause by using #GoPlanet.
Learn more about “Captain Planet: Gaia Guardians” and the “Hope Island Recovery Challenge” here.