#1 – Ecosia is a carbon-negative search engine

In a word, yes! Google runs on clean energy, so does Ecosia. In fact, Ecosia recently built its own solar plant to power its servers with renewable energy. This is even better than buying renewable energy from existing plants, as the plant can deliver clean energy to the grid and replace electricity derived from fossil fuels.

So, why does Ecosia win over Google? Because by planting trees and offsetting its energy use with renewables, each search with Ecosia actually removes 1 kg of CO2 from the air, which makes Ecosia a carbon-negative search engine. Here’s the math: an average search generates around 0.005 € of revenue. It costs roughly 0.25 € to plant a tree, which means that Ecosia can plant one tree every 50 searches. On average, these trees will each remove 50 kg of CO2 during an expected 15 year lifetime.

This means that if Ecosia were as big as Google, it could absorb 15% of all global CO2 emissions! That’s enough to offset vehicle emissions worldwide. Just imagine how much quicker the world could solve climate change if Google invested its profits – $23 billion in 2016 – into planting trees.

#2 – Our environment needs trees

In the search engine world, Ecosia owns a tiny fraction of the market share. It has 7 million monthly users and a team of 30 people. And yet it has already planted enough trees to remove over 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. As the trees continue to grow, this figure could rise to as much as 45 million.

By planting trees, Ecosia is also fighting global desertification, species extinction and land degradation. To date, it has restored 30 thousand hectares of forest and planted over 415 different species of trees – not to mention building forest corridors that help support the habitats of lemurs, chimpanzees and Orang-utans.

Reforestation is vital to fighting climate change. Our planet loses 15 million hectares of forests every year, and to date at least 70% of natural vegetation has been lost. Our total forests hold 247 billion tonnes of carbon, while global yearly emissions are currently at 40 billion tonnes.

#3 – Ecosia is independent and guided by ethical principles

Ecosia is an independently-owned company, has no shareholders and gives away all of its profits. It is one of the few social businesses to make a legally binding commitment ensuring that no profits can ever be taken out of the company.

In the age of fake news, many internet users are sceptical of claims from brands that appear to use greenwashing to improve their image. But Ecosia is different. It is a small Berlin startup that has planted close to 50 million trees, thanks to its users and its founder Christian, who would rather help the planet than make lots of money.

Hope this was helpful. Love from Berlin, Trudie (Ecosia’s social media manager).