SolSisters is a collection of NFTs that represent sustainability in the NFT industry. It is one of the most successful and well known Solana based NFT projects. Currently, SolSisters has minted 7364 of its NFTs. The NFTs are unique with over 100+ different attributes with billions of combinations.
SolSisters represents a significant shift in the NFT industry towards environmental sustainability. As climate change gets worse, we need projects to step up and take account of their carbon footprint. SolSisters is leading the way in this regard. I had the pleasure of sitting down with the team at SolSisters to interview them about their project.
What is SolSisters?
SolSisters is a unique, allegorical collection of NFTs representing a new era of sustainability within the NFT world. SolSisters themselves are mythical characters of the future, returning to Earth in hopes to save Mother Nature and all her creations.
We use the word, “allegorical” because the folklore-inspired narrative behind the SolSisters, and their visual traits hold symbolic significance, and were developed with the intent to reflect on real-life issues happening right now; specifically, the impacts of blockchain technology on the environment, and equality for women within the NFT space and beyond.
Just like how artists use exhibitions as tools to make political statements or take a stance on global issues, the SolSisters collection holds the same intrinsic value: they’re pieces of art that illustrate a moment in time.
In other words, the value of the SolSisters collection is not only indicated in hours spent on artistic production, but also through the artistic choices that convey the current climate of the world – literally and figuratively.
This whole project is really driven by our mission to advocate for energy-efficient solutions in the NFT space, and to build a community of people who are passionate, not only about improving the environment, but also empowering women in this environment.
What inspired you to create your NFTs?
Our team began discussions around the project in the summertime as the popularity of Solana began to increase.
Solana, being a PoS blockchain, is not only exceedingly fast, with much lower gas fees, but it’s significantly better for the environment. In fact, the enormous energy consumption, and super high gas fees that are standard for PoW blockchains, like bitcoin and ethereum, are seriously alarming and dangerous to the environment.
The growing awareness of the climate crisis has led people all over the globe to embrace more sustainably-based values, attitudes, and preferences when purchasing products, and making lifestyle choices in total.
We began to wonder why this mindset hasn’t infiltrated the crypto/NFT space — whether it’s selecting smarter transportation, or the food you pick up from the grocery store, people all over the world are now “voting with their wallets,” and the crypto/NFT industry should be no different — especially as an industry that could potentially cause more harm than most.
Solana was just the beginning though; in the same way that the SolSisters’ narrative reflects real-world environmental issues, being a female-led project, we felt it was only right to take the same approach in our art.
Mother Nature is a common personification of rebirth, healing, and the divine feminine in total. This inspired the feminist tone maintained throughout the SolSisters’ Saga, and provided the opportunity to pay homage to strong, badass women IRL, while highlighting essential feminist themes, artistically, and narratively throughout.
Can you walk us through how SolSisters seeks to protect the environment and promote sustainability through NFTs?
Besides aspiring to close the gender gap within the NFT/crypto space and beyond, we hope the SolSisters allegorical narrative continues to spread awareness and encourage more people to consider the environmental dangers blockchain imposes.
It was essential that our art didn’t harm the environment, but instead actively took steps to humbly contribute to alleviating a crisis, which is why Solana is a vital piece to our project. Although there is still so much work to be done, making the simple, everyday choices, like opting for Solana, a PoS blockchain, could help make significant progress in improving the future of the NFT space.
Nonetheless, we understand that using Solana and spreading awareness simply isn’t enough.
As a mission based and community driven project, continuous and consistent support for parallel philanthropic organizations (beyond our initial post-mint donation) is fundamental in reaching our ultimate goals. We established the Sisterhood Fund for Change — an allocation of secondary transaction fees to be donated to a variety of relevant charitable causes and organizations, in order to ensure that the SolSisters are held accountable, and continue to work together with our community towards a brighter, more sustainable future on a consistent basis.
Why do you think the NFT industry has been reluctant to adopt energy-efficient options?
Although the current state of the NFT/crypto space is undoubtedly problematic for the environment, I wouldn’t say the industry is reluctant to adopt more energy-efficient solution; rather, the industry is still in its infancy, and it is only a matter of time until more energy-efficient options become readily available and more popular than those currently dominating the space.
There are several potential fixes to the climate pollution of NFTs already in the works to varying degrees, however, none have been widely adopted yet. Fortunately, Ethereum, the current leader in trading volume, is said to ultimately make the switch to a PoS blockchain, and as the industry grows, the movement towards more environmentally friendly choices in the NFT/crypto world is inevitable— from both a business and a social perspective.
What challenges do you see in the future for promoting sustainable growth within the NFT space, and how will SolSisters look to jump them?
As the climate crisis has significantly impacted people all over the globe to take on more sustainably based values in total, I believe it is just a matter of time before drastic changes are made within the crypto/NFT space in order to become more sustainable too. The growing awareness of the effects blockchain has on the environment will ultimately contribute to a growing demand for change, and eventually lead the industry towards a more sustainable future. For now, the key focus for SolSisters, and for the space in general, in propelling these changes is spreading awareness, and highlighting the energy-efficient solutions that already exist.
Tackling the climate change crisis will require cooperative partnerships and dynamic collaboration from all walks of life. What organisations have SolSisters worked with to promote sustainability?
Following the SolSisters mint on October 15, we made a substantial donation to Women’s Earth Alliance.
WEA is a 15-year-old organization that trains, resources and catalyzes grassroots women’s networks to protect our environment and build healthy, safe, and just communities now and into the future. After speaking with the directors of the organization directly, we were fortunate enough to discuss the direction of the donation, and all agreed that the funds would be administered to one of their global initiatives: Women and Forests, and Trees For Jane (in partnership with Jane Goodall). These forest protection initiatives are active in Kenya and Indonesia, with more locations coming soon. WEA has a signature accelerator model, where they team up with local NGOs to provide community-centred programs that empower grassroots women leaders with everything they need to create positive change.
In addition to our donation, the WEA team worked with us in designing a rare 1/1 WEA x SolSisters NFT that will serve as the official WEA “brand ambassador” in the metaverse. We worked closely alongside the WEA team to provide creative direction and specific symbolisms for our artist, so that this WEA inspired SolSister will reflect the true nature of the women represented by WEA initiatives.
Furthermore, the Sisterhood Fund for Change was established in order to maintain charitable efforts far beyond our initial 10% donation to WEA. The Sisterhood Fund is an allocation of secondary transaction fees to be donated to a variety of relevant charitable causes and organizations, all decided on by the SolSisters community together — a quarterly “Vote For Change”. Our first community vote saw a majority for Girls Who Code, who also received a customized SolSister NFT in addition to a donation.
Continuous and consistent support for parallel philanthropic organizations is essential to our ultimate mission, and with the help of our community, we hope to seek out initiatives that feel relevant to everyone. Holding a SolSister means holding the opportunity of creating change, and being a part of real actions towards a better future.
Do you think the Metaverse offers an opportunity to increase sustainability and protect the environment? If so, why?
I think the Metaverse offers an opportunity for just about anything — if the climate crisis holds importance to the people getting involved in the space, the possibilities are simply endless. The beauty of crypto/NFTs in general is the community aspect, and the notion of a functioning system based solely on the wants and needs of the community that upholds it. In that sense, if the crypto/NFT communities collectively prioritize sustainability within the metaverse, the system will have no choice but to meet the demands of those using it, or it will ultimately collapse.
What do SolSisters fans have to look forward to over the next year?
Even at the moment of inception, the team and I envisioned SolSisters being a long-term project, and still to this day, we continue to preach and demonstrate our deep commitment and constant diligence; we’re in this for the long haul.
The next year will bring much excitement to the Sisterhood, and throughout all of our work, it is of utmost importance that we constantly maintain our allegorical narrative, which echos the real life sentiments and mission for a better future that our project was built on. With that, fans can definitely expect the exciting folklore inspired tales of the SolSisters Saga to continue. The next chapter is described on our roadmap as “rebuild the world”, which is where things get exciting in the Sisterverse: an online platform exclusively available to holders. The Sisterverse platform, launching in the next coming weeks, will really allow us to push the boundaries with our utility, as the development opportunities are endless.
Out first focus within the platform involves a gaming ecosystem in which holders are able to connect their wallets, use their rare NFT attributes within the game, and have the opportunity to win real prizes. Without getting into too much detail, the pivotal objective of Sisterverse game is to “rebuild”, and players must overcome a series of challenges in order to unlock more planets within the sisterverse, and ultimately restore every planet.
Besides all of our technical pursuits, the Sisterhood has recently gained significant attention from some big players in the space, and we’re thrilled to be seeing consistent and constant community growth; especially with such passionate, and eager individuals ready to take on this mission with us. We can’t wait to continue to work alongside our community in moving all charitable initiatives forward, and maintaining momentum in reaching all of our mutual goals.
What excites you most about the future of SolSisters and the Metaverse?
I’m really excited to see the entire industry grow in general. Mainstream adoption will undoubtedly help shift the NFT/Crypto markets into a more sustainable, energy-efficient space, and the more people that get involved, the more pressure will be applied on marketplaces to take on a greener, safer approach.
For the SolSisters specifically, I’m excited to continue to grow our incredible community, and see all of our hard work come to life — things move fast in this industry, but our team and community have maintained a steady upward pace, and our organic growth speaks for itself.
How can our readers become part of the sisterhood and get involved with SolSisters?
The Sisterhood is open to everyone! To learn more about our NFT collections and our roadmap, head over to our website, follow us on Twitter, and to get in on most of the action, join or discord — the team is always around there to chat with the community directly.
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