“Wouldn’t it be great for people to get lovely things and badges of honour from putting in time and effort rather than saying ‘I’m an influencer’ or ‘I have a black Amex’ or getting someone on Task Rabbit to queue in the street for them?”
Lauren Scott-Harris is talking about EARNT, the initiative she started last year which rewards good deeds with unique, bespoke, limited-edition, money can’t buy items and experiences.
It’s one of those concepts that is both super simple and completely ingenius. Instead of throwing money at something or having to press refresh thousands of times in a digital ticket queue EARNT gives people the chance to pay in kind.
The first EARNT initiative started in Scott-Harris’ son’s west London school playground — a space in need of thousands of pounds worth of repairs that experts estimated would take a month. The playground was fixed over one weekend for £250.
How?
“We spent £250 on silver tankards and put them in the local pub. If anyone wanted one with their name engraved on it they could have it but they had to help us fix the playground first.”
It’s a system which thrives on a mixture of altruism, community spirit and the enjoyment of having lovely things not for free, but not for money that makes it so popular.
Since last year EARNT has collaborated with Desmond & Dempsey pyjamas — the company offered 40 percent off to 40 people who signed up (there was a 400-strong waiting list) in return for help cooking and delivering home cooked meals to elderly people in need in Brixton. EARNT also collaborated with River Cafe, which resulted in a waiting list of 600 people wanting to pick up litter.
EARNT’s next collaboration is with Design Hotels which represents 300 independent hotels across the world, each boasting cultural authenticity. The group is offering an absolute trove of spoils including complimentary two night stays in Paris, Berlin and Rotterdam to name a few, as well as dinners and stays in London in return for spending the morning of May 29 picking litter from paddle boards on the water in Paddington.
After the clean up the participants will be treated to a delicious lunch (yes, you can scrub up first!) where prizes will be allotted either by drawing names out of hats or on account of who collected most litter.
Competition to sign up is fierce, with Scott-Harris confirming that “spaces always go in minutes” but there is always a waiting list.
Scott-Harris wants to see initiatives like EARNT change behaviours. She points out that everyone will always want something and so she is trying to covert that desire into energy that the planet needs.
“My dream is that in a few years my son says ‘Mummy, I want the new Nintendo game please take me to the tree planting on Saturday’ — that this is how he will ask me,” says Scott-Harris. “There really is another way to get what you want and it’s good for everyone.”
