Sustainable Searching
It's been a busy time for Go Green GE! Over the past two weeks we:
Orchestrated the FIRST EVER recycling program for the Downtown Concert Series last Friday. Did you see those awesome aluminum cups?
Handed over a check to the Glen Ellyn Park District to keep Ackerman fields users hydrated with the installation of water bottle fillers (thanks to our Glen Ellyn Fund grant!)
Helped volunteers plant dozens of trees at Churchill Park, many of those 'stemming' from your donations to Go Green GE at OAKtoberfest and other fundraising events.
Sat down with the GEPD to plan our next SportSwap (July 13th) and OAKtoberfest (Oct 4th)!
Whew! But now we are back to our desks and using a search engine to see if the sun will actually come out tomorrow, whether Taylor Swift will re-launch Reputation and to understand why the bunnies have it out for our new plantings. And that brings us today's topic... Have you heard of Ecosia? It’s a greenie-loving search engine that promises to plant trees as users search! So far, they claim to have planted 231,657,933 trees and counting. Let’s dig in to learn more about this simple swap we can make to help the world be – literally – a little greener!
LEARN
Surfing Green with Ecosia!
What is Ecosia?
Ecosia is an alternative search engine. It was founded in Berlin in 2009 and has been certified as a B Corp since 2014. Most search engines (like Google and Bing) are for-profit companies and maximize, well, profits. Ecosia’s goal is to plant trees and it donates 80% of its annual profits to do so. It also vows to never sell it’s users’ data, which is a big selling point for me!
How does it work?
Like all search engines, Ecosia generates revenue through ads displayed with your search results. This revenue is donated to local nonprofits in areas that are losing biodiversity. They have worked with local organizations in 35 countries including Brazil and Indonesia. On average, it takes about 45 searches to fund the planting of a single tree.
Is this 'greenwashing'?
It doesn't appear to be!:
We have already mentioned they are a certified B Corp. B Corp companies are, according to B Labs, ”leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy” and they measure what they do!
Speaking of measurements, Ecosia transparently show how much they are making and how much they are giving back on their website in real time, and through monthly published and audited reports.
In a world where we hear so much about our tech carbon footprint (more on that in a future newsletter!), Ecosia is run on 100% solar and generates enough power to send the same amount back into the grid. So searching with them is a no-guilt experience.
Did we mention the trees? Ecosia is one of the largest global tree planting operations, and they focus on planting in areas most in need.
Sound too good to be true?
To be fully transparent, we do see some small downsides. First, Ecosia’s search is powered by Bing, a Microsoft product. And to that end, some of the Ecosia search data may be subject to Microsoft’s standards for data. Also, to raise revenue to plant trees, it is beneficial for you to click on ads. I know I always scroll down on Google results beyond the sponsored links, thinking, why should I help Google earn more money? But here, you can click with abandon! Despite any of these small concerns, we feel that the benefit of switching to Ecosia – trees planted for something you are going to do anyway – is a very easy swap to make.
DO
How do I switch?
Go to Ecosia from your regular browser. Read up on their latest projects and follow the link at the top of the page to download an extension to your browser. If you are still on the fence, check out this video showing what is happening on the ground.
Start searching, and get planting!