Words by Smiley Team
The non-profit and green alternative to Google search engine, Ecosia, announced this month that it is branching out to offer tree planting services to businesses.
They urge companies to get in touch to find out how the Ecosia Trees initiative can help them take back some of the carbon they are emitting into the atmosphere through this natural form of carbon capture, something innovators are straining themselves to reproduce synthetically.
Ecosia’s editorial lead Joshi Gottlieb wrote: “We already have a highly effective carbon capture technology — trees. Planting, protecting and restoring forest ecosystems captures and stores carbon, cools the planet, and protects biodiversity.”
Welcoming the initiative, the UN’s head of nature for the climate branch of their environment programme said: “As we kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, it’s great to see Ecosia launching a new tree planting service, an example of an organization that is focused on planting the right trees where they are needed most. It’s this kind of collaboration that will help us turn the tide on deforestation.”
Ecosia’s new initiative allows businesses and organisations to purchase trees for €1 per sapling. This fee covers the monitoring of the tree for three years by satellite, with geo-tagged evidence and through visits.
After this period the tree will have grown strong enough to survive in the long-term. If it doesn’t survive this period they replace it for free.
By investing in Ecosia’s tree planting, companies are rewarded with the knowledge that they have done at least something for the planet, while their other activities might not be quite so environmentally nourishing.
Joshi Gottlieb explained: “Ecosia trees are planted to restore ecosystems and help communities who are feeling the effects of the climate crisis, not to offset emissions or help companies engage in greenwashing.”
Companies get a certificate, quarterly impact reports and regular opportunities to connect with the team working on the ground to plant trees.
Going paperless with the internet is not as green as you might think. In fact the carbon footprint of our internet and device use along with the systems supporting them accounts for roughly 3.7 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. This is not far off the impact of the aviation industry.
Ecosia is an internet search engine which uses ad revenue from users’ searches to plant trees in biodiverse and ecologically sensitive areas. Since it was founded in 2009, the social business has planted over 126 million trees.
Find more information about Ecosia’s impact here.
Businesses wanting to help plant more trees should get in touch here.
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