Individual actions can make a big difference. Google is continuously developing products and technology that help support everyone on their journey to a more sustainable life. With Google Maps Platform, organizations can visualize and understand the real world to make faster decisions, educate important audiences, and provide information that helps make the sustainable choice the easy choice.
We’re proud to be able to offer products and capabilities that support a wide range of sustainability use cases worldwide. In honor of Earth Day, we’re sharing a few organizations that are using Google Maps Platform to educate, inspire, conserve, and take action.
iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a crowdsourced biodiversity recording platform and a social network for people who love nature. It was created as a tool to engage people around the world in ecology, educate them about the organisms around them, and aid scientific study and conservation efforts. It’s also a joint initiative between the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic Society.
Skytruth
SkyTruth uses remote sensing, satellite imagery, and digital mapping to alert people about potential threats to the environment. Providing compelling visualizations helps make the world aware of environmentally impactful events and drives positive change. Using satellite imagery and advanced data analysis techniques, SkyTruth reveals environmentally damaging actions, making their largely invisible impacts visible, measurable, and actionable.
Over the past two decades, their team of experts have worked closely with advocates, researchers, journalists, and government agencies to develop new tools and approaches to address the planet’s biggest conservation challenges.
Skytruth's mission is to share the view from space to promote conservation for people and the planet.
Visualization of oil and gas infrastructure using Google Maps Platform and deck.gl.
SkyTruth uses satellite imagery to power SkyTruth Alerts, the interface for their most important projects, which gives users the ability to explore how human activities are impacting the planet.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is dedicated to creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people. In 2006 Rails to Trails Conservancy published their interactive maps on their website, TrailLink.com leveraging Google Maps Platform. TrailLink is Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's trail-finder website and companion TrailLink mobile apps. Since then, they have mapped over 36,000 miles of multi-use trails.
The California Native Plant SocietyThe California Native Plant Society created Calscape to help Californians restore nature and save water by showing people which plants are really native to any location in the state. This helps them figure out what they want, where to buy them and how to grow them.
Mapping of Douglas Iris along the coast of California
To learn more about how you can use Google Maps Platform to visualize information, understand the world, and take action toward a more sustainable future, watch our webinar on how to use Google Maps Platform for sustainability.
