Running RIKO has a real environmental cost - OpenAI API calls and always-on hosting both use energy and water. We estimate that cost honestly, and give substantially more than what's needed to cover it.
1% of every dollar of combined RIKO and RISE subscription revenue is donated each month, split evenly between two Australian environmental nonprofits: 0.5% to Greenfleet (carbon) and 0.5% to OzFish Unlimited (waterways).
Published research puts a typical AI chatbot query at roughly 0.3-0.4 Wh of electricity and 0.3-0.5 mL of water. At RIKO's current and realistic near-term scale, that totals a few kilograms of CO2e a year - far below the tonnes that carbon markets are priced in. The bigger factor is our always-on server, which draws roughly 0.15-0.2 tonnes of CO2e a year. At Greenfleet's published rate of $22/tonne, literally offsetting our combined estimated footprint costs roughly $3-5 a year.
1% of subscription revenue substantially over-offsets that literal number - by our estimate, somewhere around 20-30x once RIKO reaches a modest handful of paying clinics. We think that's a better, more honest commitment than a bare "we offset our usage" claim: we're not just covering our own footprint, we're giving real money to real environmental causes, on top of it.
Estimates based on published figures from OpenAI, the Devera AI 2026 environmental impact report, and Data Center Dynamics. This is a fixed reference estimate, not a live per-conversation measurement.
An Australian not-for-profit, running since the late 1990s, that plants and protects native forests in Australia and New Zealand. Uses CSIRO-verified carbon accounting, audited by a government-recognised carbon auditor.
A 100% Australian nonprofit restoring rivers, lakes, and estuaries - fish habitat, riparian vegetation, and waterway health, through a national movement of volunteers.
Each month's combined revenue is calculated automatically, the 0.5%/0.5% split computed, and the actual donations made by hand (neither charity offers an API for automated recurring giving). The total above updates once a donation is confirmed.