Ecosia is an alternative search engine. With a similar feel to Google.
It donates 100% of its profits to non-profit organisations focusing on reforestation. Ecosia shows advertisements with its search results and is paid by partners every time a user clicks a sponsored link. A single search on Ecosia raises approximately half a Euro cent (0.005 EUR) on average, according to Ecosia.
Although its search results are provided by Microsoft Bing, Ecosia says it's committed to being a privacy-friendly search engine. Searches are encrypted and not stored permanently, nor is data sold on to advertisers.
Photo by Akil Mazumder
Ecosia has become the default search engine for a number of UK universities, and several universities on mainland Europe.
Ecosia has browser extensions available for Firefox and Chromium-based browsers. It also has apps for Android and iOS.
As of July 2022, Ecosia claims to have planted more than 154 million trees, funded by searches!
Even if you don't change your default browser to Ecosia, it's worth remembering it exists to dip into and plant a few trees every now and then!
