Solana Sunday: Fighting wildfires with Firewatch NFT 

Although the public sentiment of NFTs tends to generalize the impact NFT and crypto trading has on the environment, many of these accusations are misguided. - Environmental concerns are regularly recognized by teams in the web3 ecosystem because there is a belief that decentralization has the power to help combat climate change effectively. 

One such NFT leading the charge is Firewatch, an NFT on the Solana network which is focused on battling fires and the long-term damage that they can create in California. 

Green NFTs

The Firewatch collection is a unique collection that is pushing the limits of how digital collectibles can aid in real-world dilemmas. The collection creates a grid map across the state of California and divides it into 1000 different plots which are the NFTs. 

Holding these tokens will grant access to a DAO that allows the holder to vote on new initiatives for the project to help combat wildfires more efficiently. While details on this DAO are sparse, it does show that the team behind Friewatch is committed to improving the natural areas around the golden state. 

To make the NFTs more interesting, certain rarities are also attributed to the different plots depending on their real-world geography. Locations such as San Francisco and Los Angeles are considered rare tokens because of their link to massive metropolitan areas. 

Partnership with One Tree Planted

By purchasing one of these plots, holders are immediately contributing to wildfire prevention in California through direct funding for reforestation programs around the state. One of the most exciting aspects of this project is Firewatch's partnership with One Tree Planted which is a non-profit organization focused on restoring natural habitats across the world with over 20 million trees already planted since 2014.  

Unlike most projects which try to underpromise and over-deliver (which is only a marketing gimmick in most cases for NFTs), the team at Firewatch is making it clear that they have already set up the business networks that are necessary to achieve their goals. 

Benefits from Solana

It is interesting too, that Friewatch decided to mint their project on the Solana network instead of Ethereum. While there is no exact reason as to why this choice was made, it is well-known that until the merge happens Ethereum is a proof-of-work network that requires immense electrical input to operate whereas Solana is a proof-of-stake network which requires much less power to operate because there are not complex algorithm beings hashed by mining nodes. 

By choosing to operate on the Solana network, Firewatch has made it clear that they are serious about using the most efficient network available that can reduce the carbon footprint of its project. 

Debunking environmental concerns on the blockchain

Altogether, this project addresses much of the criticisms that the blockchain has received regarding the environmental impact. It’s important to realize that much of this criticism casts a wide net with many inconsistencies stemming from a lack of knowledge regarding consensus mechanisms. 

In reality, networks that use validators and staking to operate their network are extremely eco-friendly; and while Ethereum plans to make that shift soon, there is no delay on Solana. The Solana network has been using proof-of-stake since its inception and is much less impactful towards climate change.