Would you believe that you could help plant trees from the comfort of your own desk (or bed, or kitchen, or anywhere else, for that matter?) With Ecosia, it’s possible.
Ecosia, a search engine founded in 2009 in Germany, can turn your regular web browsing into something more than just typing on a keyboard or a screen.
With just a few clicks, you could already help finance the planting of new trees, the “superheroes of the planet.”
Photos: Instagram/ecosia
How it happens
Turning searches into trees starts with you and your browser.
Using your computer, phone or tablet, search the web using Ecosia through browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge. It can also be set as your default search engine by downloading its extension, depending on what web browser you use.
If you want to use it on your phone or tablet, you may also download the Ecosia app on Google Play or the App Store.
Just like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines, clicks on search ads from your online browsing generate income–and from this income, a minimum of 80% is given to non-profit organizations to support their reforestation and other tree-planting efforts.
It takes approximately 45 searches to generate enough money to finance the planting of one tree. With this collective effort from over 15 million active users everywhere, Ecosia is able to plant a new tree in every 1.3 seconds!
Towards a greener world
Ecosia aims to plant one billion trees all over the world. As of writing, they have already planted more than 119 million trees!
This Berlin-based company uses profit from searches “to plant trees where they are needed most.”
Trees from Ecosia searches are now living in Sudan, Indonesia, Brazil, Burkina Faso and Mali, United Kingdom, Côte d’Ivoire, Canada, Senegal, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Bolivia, United States, Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, Australia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Malawi, Tanzania, Spain, and Ghana.
Aside from planting trees, this social business also invests in green projects, such as renewable energy (like solar power plants) and regenerative agriculture.
Carbon-negative, safe searching
Did you know that regular search engines produce around 0.2 grams of CO2 footprint per search?
But Ecosia is not like the rest–this carbon-negative search engine actually removes a total of 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in every search! This is the result of the company’s efforts of building and utilizing their own solar plants and using their revenue from searches to plant trees.
This search engine protects your privacy as well: They use securely encrypted connection, don’t sell your data to advertisers, and “anonymize all searches within one week.”
Sounds too good to be true? If you’re still not sold, Ecosia also publishes their monthly financial reports and “tree planting receipts,” which you can check out on their website.
Photo: blog.ecosia.org
As someone who’s been using Ecosia for years now, I can tell you that it works just as well as other search engines. I recommend downloading the app on your phone and using the search bar widget for quick searches.
It’s amazing to know that even with just the mundane task of web browsing, we can already help plant more trees, even in places we’ve never been to. Our millions of searches have given us not just information, but also the chance to give back to Mother Earth.
Technology really has its wonders, too!
Give Ecosia a try today: https://www.ecosia.org/.
