Company: YoungPlanet
Website: https://www.youngplanet.com/
Founder(s): Jason Ash & Emma Ash
About YoungPlanet
YoungPlanet is an app that gives away toys and children’s items to prevent them from going to landfill. The main focus is on helping parents to reduce their landfill contributions and helping them to become more environmentally conscious.
YoungPlanet works by providing a ‘cashless’ platform based on a sharing economy model. Parents can list or request a range of different children’s items; from books and clothes to toys and baby equipment. If more than one person wants the same item, the app uses a gamification system to prioritise those who need them most or have donated more items in the past – incentivising a circular system of giving.
Co-Founders and parents-of-three Jason & Emma were walking past a yard sale in the US a few years ago, when one of their boys spotted and fell in love with a red ride-on firetruck…
After seeing the joy on their son’s face from zooming around on a toy that had been sitting around gathering dust, the seller insisted on giving it to them for free – watching the truck in action brought back so many happy memories of her own children enjoying it when they were smaller… and the idea of YoungPlanet was born:
“Declutter, give joy and save the planet…and it won’t cause you a penny”
The app has already helped thousands of parents to declutter sustainably and help other parents to get the items they need for no extra cost.
Since its launch in 2018, the app has gone from strength to strength. By June this year, YoungPlanet had 50,000 users in London alone, with over 15,000 items listed on the app since it began. In March 2020 the app successfully raised £500,000 to take the app national due to high demand and continues to go from strength to strength.
Parents can download it via the App Store or Google Play for free, and browse for nearby items that other households are clearing out.
