Saving the Planet, One Internet Search at a Time
With the help of Ecosia.org
“The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.” — Nat Geo
Ecosia has been around since 2009, but it’s only in the last few months since my girlfriend mentioned it that I have started to use it. But what’s the deal? Why not just use Google?
Helping to plant trees
Like most search engines Ecosia make their money through sponsored search listings and adverts. The user searches a term, and the top few results (which more often than not are what you’re looking for) will make them money when you click through to them.
So far no difference right?
The difference lies in what Ecosia does with the money they make. At least 80% of the money they earn from our searches goes toward the planting of trees around the world.
Pretty cool, right?
You can help the environment for entirely free, from the comfort of your own home by just swapping out your homepage.
“But Google isn’t the king of search for nothing. I don’t want crappy search results.” — someone reading this
Well yes, that’s true.
But Ecosia is far from a crappy search engine. It’s based on the same technology behind Bing with a couple of their own algorithms chucked in for good measure. Having said that, there have been a few times when looking for something more specific, particularly when searching for local businesses that the search hasn’t quite come up with the goods.
But when this happens, I just switch to Google (another Ecosia search under my belt) and go about my day, comfortable in the knowledge that I’m furthering a good cause, however slight!
As of writing this article, I have done 217 searches (the equivalent of nearly 5 trees planted!), and Ecosia users themselves have planted a whopping 34,546,879 trees!
So if you’re feeling helpful maybe give it a try for a week and let me know how you get on!
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