FREE NOW offers up green spaces and gardens as part of electric taxi Green Pledge promise
Ride-hailing taxi and private hire app FREE NOW will be offering green spaces and gardens for local communities, paving the way for its Green Pledge promise for a better future. Consumers will be able to join the movement and create their own gardens by applying for seeds packs online.
Research commissioned by FREE NOW shows that 93% of Brits think it would be beneficial for the people in their community to plant flowers and trees in the local area and 79% agree that having a shared green space brings a sense of community to an area; with this in mind FREE NOW will be curating and delivering a number of ultra-effective carbon-consuming micro-gardens to communities, nominated by the eco-conscious residents living in them.
The launch follows the recent announcement of FREE NOW’s Green Pledge and sustainability targets in January 2021. Across the UK, FREE NOW has committed to making all taxis electric by 2024 and all private hire vehicles by 2025, going further than the Government’s sustainability targets and any competitor to protect the environment and planet.
Across Europe, the mobility platform will make all trips zero-emission by 2030 and in the meantime, while these goals are met, through preservation and regeneration of forests and planting more than 20,000 trees across European cities.
As part of its Green Pledge, FREE NOW will be working with drivers, passengers, regulators, government and businesses in the UK and investing over £20million into supporting drivers switching to electric vehicles.
Customers of FREE NOW can select an EV-only option and all non-EV trips are carbon offset. FREE NOW is also said to be the first large player in the UK ride-hailing market to complete more than half its taxi trips in electric vehicles.
Mariusz Zabrocki, UK General Manager at FREE NOW, said: “As a business we play an integral part in the evolution of the London ride-hailing industry towards greener and cleaner travel. We are really excited to be delivering green spaces to different communities to mark the announcement of our Green Pledge. We know that green spaces are beneficial for our planet, not to mention our communities and mental wellbeing. We want to start a movement where people can start growing their own bit of green space across cities, in addition to building some green spaces of our own for Londoners, we hope that spaces will give residents the chance to connect with nature, and breathe in cleaner air.
“We are already at the forefront of this with over 60% of our taxi trips already being completed in electric vehicles and we have the largest fleet of electric black cabs in London.
“We are going one step further and pledging to shift to a fleet that is fully zero emission capable as quickly as possible. Working with drivers, passengers, regulators, the Government and businesses, we all need to act now to improve air quality in our cities, making them better places to be.”
The gardens will be unveiled on 10 March with a green ribbon cutting and a secret-garden style installation.
