ECOSIA, the ecological search engine

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Christian Kroll had the opportunity to travel around the world and appreciate a fact that is still impacting the life of various ecosystems across the planet: deforestation.

It is well known that the indiscriminate felling that is taking place around the world is to satisfy the need of various industries, including palm oil and coal oil, without forgetting everything that we consume daily and that requires the use of wood. This is causing many animal species to lose their homes, and may even become extinct due to the lack of an adequate habitat for them and the food that the forests provide them.

Of course, this also affects climate change, environmental pollution, decreased oxygen, work sources, food and forced migration by populations that must be located in new localities due to the lack of an adequate environment to live and work, thus losing even its economic sustenance.

In other words, deforestation impacts on nature, the animals that inhabit them, but also on the human being.

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Given this situation, Kroll set out to create a project that would return what had been taken away to the environment. This is how Ecosia.org was born in 2009, a search engine that allows you to surf the Internet and generate income through search ads. In this way, Ecosia can obtain the funds to reforest those places in the world where there are no trees.

This has allowed that today there are more than 61 million trees planted, a figure that continues to grow with each search made by users like you or me.

As Ecosia (2019) says on its website: "Trees are synonymous with a happy environment, healthy people and a stable economy".

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This is how it can be seen that Ecosia has come to support more than 20 tree planting projects in more than 15 countries throughout the world such as Senegal, Morocco, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Kenya, Brazil, Uganda, Haiti, Spain, Peru , Madagascar, Colombia, Tanzania, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, among others, supported by local partners that can monitor the trees on the ground. Of course, the plans are to continue visiting and helping more countries through new planting projects. You can see the audiovisual record of the testimonies, ideas, proposals and work in YouTube.

The selected sites are those considered as the hot spots of biodiversity, that is, those that house a high number of unique plant species, but that are faced with extreme threats.

"Currently, there are 35 such hotspots, which represent 2.3% of our Earth’s land surface – which in scale is tiny, but they support more than half of the world’s plant species and nearly 43% of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species that are found nowhere else on Earth"(Salt, 2019).

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Trees are of immense value to counteract this and help create value for farmers and communities, as they prevent erosion, create a stable microclimate for other crops, restore water systems or provide new means of income. This is especially important in regions where farmers do not have the financial resources to finance the planting of trees, nor the support of private companies or governments.

This is how Ecosia, through planting trees, helps generate employment sources, stimulate local economies, plant food, restore landscapes and degraded areas, mitigate climate change, help reduce CO2 emissions, restart the cycles of water, prevent deserts from spreading and turning arid lands into fertile forests and farmland, as well as encouraging people to get involved with their cause.

"Trees can be sources of food, can provide habitats for endangered animal species, can sequester immense amounts of carbon dioxide out of the air, and contribute to biodiversity and ecological health. They bring life back into the soil around them, due to mutualistic partnerships between tree roots and mycorrhizal fungi. And this in turn can stimulate other plant life and animal resources. Trees are important for regulating water: they can act as buffers against flooding, but can also fight against desertification. Trees also are important in creating good air quality" (Arnold).

All this is also possible thanks to the organizations with which Ecosia works: World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Eden Reforestation Projects and Jane Goodall Institute.

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Surely you ask yourself, how can I be sure that the income that Ecosia gets with my searches is really destined to plant trees around the planet where it is most needed? Very simple, they publish their financial reports and proof of planted trees every month. If you want to see this information you can visit his blog here.

In addition to these data, in this blog you can also know the projects, news, access the podcast and buy in their virtual store. Did you know that with each t-shirt that is sold in this shop you can plant 20 trees? Nothing that is not part of the basic operating costs goes to the pockets of the team. That is why they use 80% of their income to finance tree planting projects around the world.

Ecosia is a very active and informed project to propose the best solutions to reforest the planet. They support movements such as Friday for Future, hold meetings in their offices in Berlin, generate informative content to educate audiences interested in ecology through current news and podcasts, telling their stories in the field or their ongoing projects on tree planting, among other activities, which together with its presence and investment in reforestation in the aforementioned nations, allows to offer a positive impact on the environment, but also on the awareness of people to take action.

Not in vain between 2009 and 2011 did they have an acknowledgment by the public for their ingenious idea and for their rapid growth inside and outside Europe. While in April 2014 Ecosia was the first German company to be certified as a B Corporation due to its social business model.

They even use 100% renewable energy by having their own solar plants to power their servers.

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This is largely due to the professionalism, passion, dedication and experience of his team, committed to the environment and reducing the negative impact generated by the absence of trees in the world. You can meet the Ecosia team here.

But this is not all! If you are one of those who care about your privacy and anonymity, I have good news for you: Ecosia respects both aspects. I explain how:

• It does not store the data of your searches permanently. This means not creating personal profiles based on the search history. They remove this data from their servers after a week.

• They do not sell your data to advertisers. This implies that they do not provide your personal information or the data of your searches to third parties.

• You do not have third-party trackers.

• And finally, they use secure encryption to protect your searches from potential spies.

If you still do not like what I say, you can check the FAQ section here.

If you are a computer curious, I tell you that the search results are made using Microsoft Bing technology, powered by the Ecosia algorithms.

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Well, what do you think? Do you dare to be part of the Ecosia movement for a better and healthier planet?

Start using Ecosia today as your default search engine on your computer or smartphone to be part of the difference and help plant trees around the planet by just using the search engine.

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To start using Ecosia visit their website and download the extension or application according to your device.

SOURCES

Arnold, E. Saving the planet, one web search at a time with Ecosia time. Link: https://www.planetforward.org/idea/saving-the-planet-one-web-search-at-a-time-with-ecosia

Ecosia (2019). Ecosia. Link: https://www.ecosia.org/

Salt, S. (2019). Eco-friendly search with Ecosia: an evergreen concept. Link: https://www.fifteendesign.co.uk/blog/ecosia-eco-friendly-search-engine/