Jan 1, 20185 min read

Ecosia- Planting Trees Right From Your Computer

Updated: Jan 6, 2018

I wanted to take a break from the usual formula this week to talk about a web application called Ecosia that I came across recently. If you read my last post about some possible solutions to desertification, you may have seen this program mentioned before. After researching it for that post, I decided to try it out for myself, and see what it had to offer. And after using it for about a week, I have some thoughts on it that I would like to share, namely the benefits I think it provides. However, before we get to talking about that, we need to first discuss what exactly Ecosia is, and what it is used for.

I just wanted to mention before we start that I am not affiliated with Ecosia in any way. I found this program while researching for another post, and I thought it was worth talking about.

What is Ecosia?

Ecosia is, at its core, a search engine. Just like Google, Bing, or any other engine, Ecosia is another option to help you search the web. However, there's a twist. In a normal web browser, all the ads you see (that are not on a particular website) help to fund the browser and the company behind it, and normally a company would use this money for other business ventures. Ecosia, on the other hand, uses 80% of this ad revenue to help plant trees in deforested areas. They use the money other companies would keep for themselves to help plant trees!

But there's another benefit too. The trees Ecosia is planting are in areas such as Africa, the Philippines, and South America. They find impoverished communities in that area, and employ them to help the company plant the trees. So, not only does this money help to restart forests, but it also helps to strengthen the economies of impoverished communities.

Transparency

One thing that I personally love about Ecosia is their transparency. After all, anyone can SAY that they do good work, but to actually do so is a completely different story. However, Ecosia thought of this, and consistently publishes reports of their funding on their website. If you would like to check out these reports for yourself, you can check them out here. If that still does not convince you however, you can visit their website for more information by clicking here.

Does it Work?

Now the concept is great, but what really matters for us is if the search engine actually works or not. And, after using for a little while, I can say that yes, it works great. Ecosia's search results are powered by Microsoft Bing, with some of their own algorithms thrown into boot. Now, I know Bing is far from the most popular search engine, but hear me out: I never had trouble finding things that I was looking for, and I think this is largely because of the algorithms Ecosia incorporated into their engine. It was pretty much on the level of Google (aside from a few aesthetic changes). If that doesn't convince you though, Ecosia does have another reason for why it chose Bing.

Why Bing?

Ecosia chose Bing to power their search engine because of its carbon neutral policies. Carbon neutrality, if you have not heard the term before, essentially means that whatever CO2 this company releases is balanced out by other actions they take. Bing, and the company behind it (Microsoft) have since 2005 been working to reduce their impact on the environment. This means a number of different things: cutting down carbon emissions, using less harmful materials, etc. And, as of 2012, they have been fully committed to making their operations carbon-neutral, which of course includes the search engine Bing. So, when searching with Ecosia, not only are you helping to plant trees, but you also are helping out a carbon-neutral company!

If you would like to check out Microsoft's policies for yourself, you can visit their website by clicking here.

Why should you use Ecosia?

Now you may be thinking, "But Google is still by far the best search engine. Why should I switch to this one?" And while I can't say that the search engine itself is physically better than Google, I can say that the motives and people behind it are. Looking into their company, you can really tell that they care about what they're doing, and are really looking to make a difference. They listen to their users, and are consistently making Ecosia better. So even if you aren't interested in using it for the environmental benefits it provides, you should use it to support the people behind it, so they can continue to do amazing things. But of course, just telling you about them isn't enough. See what they do for yourself by visiting their website.

Still not convinced?

If you are still not interested in trying out Ecosia, then I highly, highly recommend you check out their website and FAQ for more information. You can check out their website by clicking here, and the FAQ by clicking here. Both provide awesome information that can help to answer any question you might have. And even if you can't find an answer to a question, you can send it directly to the company in their FAQ!

How do I get Ecosia?

If you are interested, getting Ecosia is extremely easy. It can be added to nearly any web browser, so you don't have to get a new one just to install it. What's better, it only takes a few clicks to get it working! First, visit this website: https://www.ecosia.org/. When you go there, you should see a little message pop up on the right side of your screen (it's different for every browser). All you have to do is follow the instructions it gives you, and boom! You're helping to plant trees. It's that easy.

Conclusion

Ecosia is an amazing program. It's easy to use, works well, and helps the environment! What's not to love? Of course, some may turn away from it because it uses search results from Bing, but from my experience it doesn't make any difference. I have never had trouble finding what I needed to, and I don't think anyone else will either. The Ecosia team has spent years working on this project, and I think it has definitely paid off. I would recommend Ecosia to anyone. You don't have to love the environment to use it, because it helps people too! I just can't give enough praise to the intelligence and innovative creation behind Ecosia.

So why not use it? It provides a peace of mind that no other search engine does, and it works extremely well. Of course, I could not hope to tell you everything about them in this one post. If you want to learn more about Ecosia, make sure to check out their website and FAQ for more information. It's astounding how much they are able to discuss in them. Anyway, thanks for reading, and let's get planting!

All credit for information used in the article goes to:

https://info.ecosia.org/

https://ecosia.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about/corporate-responsibility/environmental-sustainability

Images:

http://www.doz.com/search-engine/top-7-google-alternatives

https://info.ecosia.org/what

https://www.seeklogo.net/technology-logos/google-chrome-5076.html

http://bsnscb.com/economy-wallpapers.html

http://documents.ecosia.org/369415/12019080

https://www.ecosia.org/

http://www.suggest-keywords.com/Y2FyYm9uIG5ldXRyYWw/

http://www.gamedynamo.com/article/showarticle/6009/en/microsoft_tells_gamers_worried_about_internet_connectivity_to_stick_with_xbox_360

http://www.kanetica.com.au/_blog/blog