Apps for Earth Program: Apple, Developers Raise $8 Million For Environmental Awareness [VIDEO]
Apple and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have recently collaborated in the Apps for Earth program, a drive that is aimed at spreading environmental awareness to consumers. Together with 24 developers, numerous apps were developed which were specifically themed towards environmental issues and other pertinent concerns about nature.
The Apps for Earth program was pretty brief, only lasting for 10 days in April. During this time, special apps were offered to iOS users at the App Store, all of which featuring a pretty green twist to their platform. Thus, games such as Diner Dash featured healthy foods and Trivia Crack featured questions that are related to the environment. Even SimCity Build, one of the most prominent games in the App Store, featured settings where players could build their own wildlife habitat.
Apart from increasing environmental awareness, the Apps for Earth program was also a massive fundraiser for the WWF, with all proceeds from the 24 sponsored apps' in-app purchases going straight to the green foundation.
As it turns out, the Apps for Earth program has been quite successful, with Apple announcing during its recently-held WWDC 2016 in San Francisco that it has managed to raise a pretty admirable $8 million for the WWF. Thus, thanks to the brief program, the WWF would have $8 million more in funds as it continues its conservation work.
This is actually not the first time that Apple has partnered with the WWF to raise environmental awareness. Just last year, the tech giant has pledged to protect almost a million acres of forests in mainland China.
In an announcement during the beginning of the Apps for Earth program, Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives emphasized the need for the public to be made aware of the state of the Earth's resources and its biodiversity.
"We are losing our forests at a rate of 48 football fields per minute. Less than one percent of the world's water is fresh and accessible, and today, more than 7 billion people consume 1.5 times what the Earth's natural resources will be able to supply," she said.
