BadmintONEarth - One Sport - One Earth
Project description
Sport can be the greatest hobby for all of us or a fantastic profession. But what do we do when our world changes fundamentally? Climate change is the greatest challenge of our generation. Continuing as before is not an option; only if we all act together can we bring about lasting change.
We as national badminton players want to do just that and invite the whole badminton world to join us. That is why we have decided to implement the first afforestation and climate project of badminton sport, whether to compensate for tournament trips, league match days or ball consumption in the club.
Because for us climate protection is holistic, with the help of your donations we not only plant trees, but also promote solar energy and support the local population. Our project is realized in the city of Bankana, which has 50,000 inhabitants, which is located about 2. 5 hours east of the capital of DR Congo. The project partners are the Zenaga Foundation and the ASEAD – Academy of Sciences & Engineering for Africa Development.
Thanks to the strong commitment of BadmintONEarth, which now also includes a recycling project, the initiative was nominated for the German Sustainability Award for Sport in 2023 and was one of the three finalists.
Status April 2024
Project progress
2021: Thanks to the merger of numerous national badminton players and the compensation of the emissions of their one-year tournament trips, a start-up budget has been put together each year, with which the first fruit trees can be planted locally and a “solar educational backpack” can be procured. With a donation of 200 euros, the area of an entire badminton field can be planted with trees, including the implementation of further solar energy measures. Approximately 20 trees fit on a badminton field, which means a unit price of 15€ for a tree+.
January 2022: BadmintONEarth has successfully completed the first project phase. With the first donations after the kick-off of the project and the doubling of Sports for Future, the first 939 trees were planted in Bankana. For the plantations, “caretakers” are trained on site, who guide the plantations in a targeted manner and pass on their expertise. We rely on fruit trees, so the local people benefit from the trees. The pupils are also involved in the afforestation. Among other things, the topic of sustainability is integrated from practice into the theory of school teaching.
In addition, a solar backpack was ordered with additional elements, e. g. beamer, chargers and screen, which can be used both for the school and for local residents. The school, which is run under particularly poor teaching conditions, also received notebooks, pencils and chalk for the pupils. The conditions there are so bad that it is not possible to hold lessons in the rain because there is no roof and no real buildings.
October 2022: Building construction in the Democratic Republic of Congo progresses: The Zenaga Foundation publishes first images of the progress of the ECO School Project. In addition to the reforestation of fruit trees, we are also supporting the local population by constructing a new school building as an ECO school.
Nahum can be seen in the photos in the red T-shirt. Nahum had travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo from Australia for his job and took the opportunity to visit the ECO-School project. He also equipped the ASEAD with a laptop and a digital camera.
The photos also show the growing buildings for classrooms, teachers, toilets and administration rooms. In the background of the trees is the “old school” – if you can describe the hut and the roof without walls as such.
February 2023: Planning and financing for the third phase of the project has been underway since the beginning of 2023. With the help of a crowdfunding campaign, attractive prizes were secured against a donation, such as tickets for the Yonex German Open 2023 & Hylo Open 2023, autograph cards of selected German national champions or signed jerseys of national and international stars. The target amount was 4,500 euros, which was significantly exceeded with a donated amount of 5,370 euros! This amount was also doubled by Sports for Future.
The amount donated will partly finance the upcoming third project phase of our social and sustainable climate protection project in the DR Congo. More fruit trees are to be planted this year, as well as two water wells to be built.
May 2023: As of May 1, 2023, 25,696 euros were donated, which was doubled with funds from Sport for Future. This means a current donation amount of 51. 392 Euro!!
In addition, the construction work of the ECO-School in Bankana continues to progress. The shell of the new school building has been completed and a small PV system is soon being installed on the roof of the school.
January 2024: Water resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are not uniformly distributed across the country. Among other things, mineral mining pollutes the water with heavy metals. Water is a precious liquid for the survival of all biodiversity, and access to fresh drinking water is fraught with many conflicts: Across the country of more than 80 million people, only 21% have access to clean water, and schools, kindergartens and clinics in rural areas have no water. Rainfall in the savannah regions is between 900 and 1400 mm per year and is irregularly distributed throughout the year. Some provinces experience three to six months of dry spells.
For this reason, BadmintONEearth has been supplemented by the “Water for All” project, which includes the construction of a new well. This is equipped with a manual or solar-powered conveying device. In addition, one water tank is installed per well. The construction of these water wells continues to progress. Cibwabwa Judith explains in a video how the solar wells work and how they are used.
We look forward to receiving feedback or suggestions at miranda.wilson@badmintonearth.com
Until then,
Your BadmintONEarth Team – Kai and Miranda
Support us!
If you want to directly donate the money via bank account:
Volksbank Lohne-Mühlen eG
Sports for Future e.V.
IBAN DE94 280 625 60 000 711 2900
BIC GENODEF1LON
Purpose: BadmintONEarth
Guarantee:
100% of the donations via Sports4Trees go directly into the projects!
Donations to the non-profit association Sports for Future are tax-deductible and go directly to the project on site. We will gladly provide a donation receipt (up to a donation amount of 200€, a bank transfer receipt is sufficient as a donation receipt).
Feel free to contact info@sportsforfuture.de