Exclusive Q&A with Phillip Runyan, Founder & CEO of Hold Gaming

Climate change is a very real issue right now. While mainstream media tends to focus on world governments and country leaders, there are also many others taking actionable steps to assist in this looming crisis.

CasinoAward.net, an online portal dedicated to providing news and information related to the world of gaming and virtual casinos, is one such example of a small company trying to make a big impact.

This recent interview with the founders of CasinoAward talks about their ‘Bet on 0GREEN’ initiative. The purpose of this project is to challenge individuals, associates and organizations within the iGaming industry to go GREEN. If you’d like more information on this project, please visit the official page of the iGaming renewable energy challenge.

Transcript of the interview:

To begin, can you explain what the Bet on 0GREEN initiative is?

Ultimately, it’s a challenge to others who are connected to the iGaming sector to join us and take action concerning global CO2 emissions. Our goal is to move towards an industry that doesn’t have a carbon footprint. Some may say that it is too ambitious, but you have to think big, right? The iGaming industry is, of course, reliant on energy consumption, electronics, and other digital technologies. There are many areas where we can make a difference. CasinoAward has put down the first bet – a $40 donation to the Global Footprint Network, and so the challenge is out there for other parties to raise it.

What ways can this challenge be accepted?

Our idea was to leave it open for the individual or company to decide. The point is to do something; to take action in the fight against rising emissions and climate change. We all agree that something is better than nothing.

The easiest way is to make a donation to an organization that is actively promoting and supporting the usage of renewable, zero-carbon energy sources. iGaming is a multi-billion dollar business. Surely casino operators, owners of poker and bingo rooms, software creators and platform developers have the economic power to accept the Bet on 0GREEN challenge and make an investment.

Even the smallest steps are part of a journey. Reduction in disposable plastic from offices, using digital documents instead of paper or a few solar panels on the roof to save on electric. Collectively, all of these little actions amount to something big.

It’s somewhat off-topic for a website like yours; can you tell us how the idea came about?

Certainly, at first glance, you may wonder why a site that is focussed on online gambling and casinos is championing this cause. The reality is, in our opinion, that all forms of the industry have a duty, and should be committed to reducing their carbon footprints and looking to improve the environment.

Many people, including hundreds of top scientists, claim our planet is in crisis and we are rapidly approaching a tipping point from which the effects of global warming may well be irreversible. We, as the human race, are responsible for this. As the saying goes, ‘You broke it, you fix it!’ Sure, we are part of the online gaming community, which is why we are promoting this project to our peers.

All the staff working on our website are sensitive to environmental issues, so when one of our web developers proposed the idea, it was immediately met with approval.

Out of curiosity, how was the name Bet on 0GREEN chosen?

Our team was having a discussion about the project and everyone was bringing their ideas to the table in regards to what we should call it. Essentially, the name came from a combination of these ideas, which is very apt because that is what the initiative is about – us all working together to solve a problem.

Bet on 0GREEN is an acronym for ‘Bet on Online Gambling with REnewable ENergy. The ‘zero’ serves as an ‘O’ in the full title. Both the ‘zero’ and ‘green’ have a double meaning. Zero green is a classic roulette bet, so this is a representation of the industry we’re involved in. Naturally, both of these words are very relevant in regards to environmental and climate issues, too. Zero impact on our planet, zero CO2 emissions, green energy and so on. That’s why we think it’s the perfect title for the project.

Has CasinoAward taken any action in this initiative, or did you simply propose the idea?

Our motto is to lead by example. How can we expect others to change if we are unprepared to do so ourselves? For now, we have taken two very specific actions to highlight our intent.

The first was to choose a hosting service for our portal that uses renewable energy to power its servers, and as previously mentioned we have begun making financial donations to projects such as the Global Footprint Network.

Has anyone in the industry risen to your challenge yet?

In terms of requests for participation and upping our challenge bet, we haven’t had anyone come forward as of yet. But, we’ve received a lot of positive exposure from high-profile industry news portals, so we are confident that things will start to move soon and the ante on our initial bet will be raised.

The initiative is based on donating to sustainable energy, zero-emissions projects, but are you collecting funds?

Absolutely not. Those who are interested in joining us are free to make their own donations to projects of their choosing. From there, they can contact us via the official Bet on 0GREEN page on our website and let us know what they’ve done. We can then update our list and publicly thank them for their support.

Does this project have a duration or a deadline?

For us, running this initiative, there is no deadline. We will keep pushing it for as long as it takes. However, the real deadline is the climate, and the world we live in. Action needs to be taken as soon as possible. We cannot ignore this crisis which is on our doorstep any longer.

Are you open to collaboration proposals to increase the effectiveness of this cause you’re supporting?

Yes, most definitely. We know that we cannot do this alone, which is the whole point of issuing the challenge and raising awareness. We welcome all ideas, so please contact us and let’s talk.

Furthermore, by allowing us this opportunity to sit down and do this interview is collaborating, so for that, we sincerely thank you. Of course, if you would like to actively participate in Bet on 0GREEN, and be the first to relaunch our wager, we would be even more grateful.

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