Running RIKO has a real environmental cost - AI queries and always-on hosting use energy and water. We estimate that cost honestly, put the number we're up against on this page, and give substantially more than it takes to cover our share.
The past 12 months of daily readings. The wiggle is the seasonal cycle - the planet's forests breathing in and out. The direction is the problem.
No company our size moves this number. We show it live because it's the honest context for everything below - a pledge that won't name the number it exists for is marketing, not a pledge.
Every month, a share of all RIKO and RISE subscription revenue is donated to two Australian environmental nonprofits, split evenly between them - enough to cover our estimated footprint many times over.
Many times over. 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. The bigger factor is our always-on server, at roughly 0.15-0.2 tonnes of CO2e a year. Our monthly donations fund carbon offsetting at an estimated 20-30 times that combined footprint - plus waterway restoration on top, which offsets nothing and exists purely to give back.
Drawn to scale. That's the point.
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 donation split evenly between the two charities, and the actual donations made by hand (neither charity offers an API for automated recurring giving). The total below updates once a donation is confirmed.