There is a Berlin-based search engine called Ecosia.org which is saving Planet Earth, planting hope, one tree at a time. It’s growing fast. In 2014, they planted one tree a minute. In 2019, they planted one tree a second, that’s over 30,000,000 trees. And they are planting even more this year.
Trees are essential for human life. Allow me to expand on this just a little more.
- Trees are the most efficient form of CO2 capture. Other forms of carbon capture technology pose unknown risks and require energy that generates CO2 itself. But trees convert CO2 to oxygen, simply and cheaply, without further energy input.
- Ecosia claim that 45 searches plant one tree and so, factoring in the lifetime of a tree, just one Ecosia search removes over 1 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere.
- Trees reverse desertification and provide climate stability in the regions where they are planted. They restore damaged soil cover.
- They allow the flourishing of other plants and animals in their vicinity.
- Trees preserve the biodiversity of their environment.
- They provide healthy food to the communities where they are planted.
- Trees, properly managed, provide wood for construction, for furniture, for musical instruments.
- Properly managed, trees provide paper, a commercial resource for business and education.
- Trees beautify the world.
TREES TO SAVE THE WORLD
In short, humankind and trees have a vital symbiotic relationship. We cannot live without trees. The more trees we plant, the better we all thrive. So what Ecosia is doing looks like a good thing, doesn’t it?
But, you ask, is Ecosia any good as a search engine? Well, it is powered by Yahoo and Bing. So it’s just as good as these two search engines. For obscure stuff, it may not be quite as good as Google just yet. But for 99% of searches, it works just fine. And you can still search the Big G any time you want. Just add two keystrokes to your search—#g—and you search Google straight from Ecosia (tho ad revenues go to Google). And you can still use Chrome. In fact, you can install Ecosia as a free browser extension on Chrome with just one click at ecosia.org. And the cherry on the cake is that, unlike their competitors, Ecosia have an explicit policy of never sharing or selling customer data.
Me, I’ve made it my default search engine. I use it for 99% of searches and I find it works just fine. I have removed 1000s of kgs of CO2 from the atmosphere and planted 100s of trees, without departing from my daily routine, without picking up a shovel or a seed, or even going out the door. More, in searching with Ecosia, I weaken the monopoly of the tech giants, whose advertising becomes steadily more aggressive.
WHAT ABOUT AUSTRALIA?
But, you may say, “What about the Australian bush fires? How many million trees were burned up there?”
These fires were devastating to Australia’s flora and fauna, to its people, and to the planet. But, obviously, it is better to respond by reforestation than by admitting defeat in the face of catastrophe. And Ecosia are already replanting trees for Australia in key forest areas of the devastated land.
Just one thing. There are rumours being spread that Ecosia is a scam. Don’t believe it. Here’s an objective review in The Guardian. In fact, if Ecosia continues to grow, it may force Big Tech to rethink its business model. They reckon that if Google, Facebook, and their affiliates rolled out a similar business model, they could reverse excess greenhouse gases in a couple of years.
Why don’t you join the revolution? If everyone who reads this joins in, then together we could plant millions more trees. Install Ecosia as your default search engine in Google Chrome with just one click at ecosia.org. Spread the word.