‘There are many many blogs and feeds and reviews on iOS Apps. Why one more blog!’ I can hear you. That’s because I like to write and I communicate better while writing. And moreover, the organisations that I am going to be writing about — deserve a lot of blogs.
My focus for this series is on eco companies that go a long way to give back to the environment. My pick for the week is ‘Ecosia’ that plant trees with your searches.
Ecosia is a search engine powered by Microsoft Bing and Safari extension with an eco-conscious twist. They have an iOS app that does exactly the same thing.
So, what does Ecosia do? You search the web through Ecosia App. Search ads generate income for Ecosia. Ecosia uses this income to plant trees. Simple!
They donate 80 percent of their PROFITS from search and display ads to conservation projects that plant trees all over the world.
Christian Kroll founded ecosia.org in December 2009 after a trip around the world that helped him understand the problems of deforestation.
Since its inception in 2009, they have planted over 92 million trees (Yes, you read that right) all over the world with the help many conservation groups including World Vision International, the Wildlife Conservation Foundation and Jan Goodall Institute.
They say, For every 45 searches or so, Ecosia gets money to plant ONE tree.
Some of their flagship Projects in aid with many conservation groups :
- With the help of The High Atlas Foundation, They have combined social, educational and agricultural goals along with Reforestation in Morocco
- With the help of Fair Ventures, they have created an agroforest (plants that are grown between trees) for healthier forests in Indonesia
- In association with OZG, they are expanding Sahara forest by digging water basins into the dry soil, which villagers then fill seeds that germinate during the rainy season
- In collaboration with TreeAid, they are restoring key watersheds in Ghana
- With the help of Eden reforestation projects, they are restoring damage in Haiti after 2 hurricanes and a devastating earthquake
- With the help of Alvelal, they are supporting Europe’s biodiversity in Spain by reforesting degraded soil and forests
- With the help of Trees for the future, climate resilient farming is done in Senegal
- With the help of Green Ethiopia they are helping one of the most severe droughts in 30 years in Ethiopia by restoring their water cycle
- In association with Jane Goodall institute, they are creating corridors for chimpanzees in Uganda
- In association with Progresso, they are restoring mountain slopes in Peru
and many many more..
Ecosia has won several awards for its clever concept and speedy growth in Europe and beyond.
Since its founding in 2009, they have planted trees in 17 countries that includes Peru, Brazil, Senegal, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco and so on. They have obviously participated in planting trees in lands scorched by Australian bushfires.
Christian Kroll says that planting trees is one of the most effective ways to get Carbon Dioxide out of the air.
How much do they earn per ad click?
That really depends on the competition on the key word and the value of what is being advertised. Some search terms like “credit”, “bank account” or “solar panel” come with more lucrative ads than, for example, “chocolate” or “sticky notes”.
A click on one of the more lucrative keyword ads may finance multiple trees at a time, others may finance lesser. Taking into account that not every Ecosia user clicks on an ad every time they search, they earn an average of 42 rupees (0.5 cents (Euro) ) per search.
How does Ecosia make money — explained in detail?
Just like all search engines, Ecosia earns money from clicks on the advertisements that appear above and beside the search results.
The advertisements on Ecosia are clearly labeled as Ads and are text links to websites that pay for each click by users. The ads are delivered to you by their partner Bing, who pays Ecosia a share of the revenue generated via these ads.
Ecosia earns a few cents for every click on an ad from Bing or a portion of the purchase price made through an affiliate link. Ecosia then gives the profits from this ad revenue to planting projects.
The company is also expanding into other ventures
Ecosia Travel, which suggests eco-friendly hotels and public transportation options to help tourists limit their carbon footprint. The company plans to highlight ethical, eco-friendly options in its search results.
Incredible story huh?!
So, What can you do?
* Download Ecosia App from the App Store, use it to search the web.
* Buy T-Shirts (Every time they sell a t-shirt, they get funds to plant 20 trees) on https://ecosia.teemill.com
* They also accept Donations https://ecosia.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002296049-Does-Ecosia-accept-donations-
* More materials to read about them:
https://blog.ecosia.org/tag/podcast/
