How Ecosia Is Planting Millions of Trees Through Your Daily Online Searches
I think we can all agree that surfing the web is now a big part of our daily routines. Whether we’re looking up a new healthy vegan recipes, doing research for work and school, or simply answering our occasional trivial questions, search engines like Google, Bing, and others are at our disposal 24/7. Considering how often we use the internet, wouldn’t it be incredible if we could be contributing to a positive cause with every single search? Now you can do just that, thanks to Berlin-based Certified B Corporation Search Engine ‘Ecosia’!
Founded in 2009, this non-profit organization donates 80% of its ad revenue to reforestation programs. Additionally, they neutralize all CO2 emissions related to their search. As of 2015, they’ve been working specifically with WeForest, who are currently tackling the monumental project ‘Greening Forest,’ for which they are aiming to plant a 4,300 mile long and 9 mile wide wall of trees from East to West Africa!
With climate change threatening natural habitats, temperatures, livelihoods, air and water quality… we could use a hand from Mother Nature. Trees help to combat global warming and contamination by removing CO2 from the air and providing it with extra oxygen.
Ecosia’s main goal, however, is to plant one billion trees. So far, they’ve planted a jaw-dropping 100.4 million! All you have to do to support this initiative is to set Ecosia as your main search engine and start navigating the web. They’ll give you reports of how many trees you’re funding and updates on how many overall trees have been planted, so you can keep track of your impact. At 15 million users and 0.2 euros per tree, they are currently able to plant a tree every 0.75 seconds!
Another important plus to using Ecosia is that they take your privacy very seriously. They don't save your searches or sell your data to advertising agencies, all searches are encrypted, and they don't use tracking tools! This way, all of your information is secure and protected from third-party trackers.
Will you be switching to Ecosia? More on this eco-friendly search engine here. https://www.ecosia.org/