In celebration of Earth Day, the board game publishing company Usaopoly aka The Op has partnered with the non-profit organization One Tree Planted.
The partnership has resulted in the launch of The Op GiveBack Program, which will focus on environmental and community improvements for the publisher's home town of San Diego, California. For every single game sold on The Op's webstore, a tree seedling will be planted. The reasoning behind this comes from The Op's President and CEO, John M. Davis, mentioning that the production and distribution of board games inevitably means the consumption and use of trees for raw materials.
Working with One Tree Planted, there is the hope that giving back in some way can help assuage the cost of the very products that are made. In an official statement, Davis says, "We will be planting a tree for every order placed on our website to ensure that the sustainability of our games reflects the long-lasting memories made by the families that enjoy them."
The Op GiveBack Program is broken down further on The Op's official website. This partnership with One Tree Planted will entail planting up to 20,000 trees throughout 2021 as part of these sales, at a rate of one tree per purchase. In addition to this ecological goal, The Op GiveBack Program's official web page promises dedication to volunteer hours as well as both product and cash donations to various causes in their native San Diego region, beyond the One Tree Planted partnership.
If you wish to help in your own small way, there is one game we can heartily recommend. Among the hundreds of different versions of Monopoly available on the webstore, there is Monopoly: National Parks Edition. In addition to having a tree planted upon purchase, a portion of the sale is given to the National Park Foundation. If you prefer a different game with a National Parks theme and donation like Jenga or Trivial Pursuit, The Op has you covered there as well.
