Is Ecosia Legit? Will They Really Plant Trees?

Plant trees while you browse the web! Wouldn’t that be awesome? You don’t have to make any effort besides downloading the search engine, and you’re helping Mother Nature. You’d search the web anyway, so why not help our planet while you’re at it?

On the other hand, if you’ve squinted your eyes in disbelief while reading that, you’re not the first one to do so. The whole idea sounds a little too good to be true. Let’s dive a bit deeper into Ecosia and see how legit they are.

The Essence of Ecosia

So, what is Ecosia? To put it very simply, it’s a free search engine that generates ad revenue. This ad revenue, however, is used for planting trees – a hefty sum goes to organizations that plant trees. You don’t even have to install anything. Bookmark the Ecosia homepage and search the web like you always do.

So, what does the company promise? Well, first of all, they promise that they assign a minimum of 80% of their ad revenue profits for tree planting purposes. They also claim full transparency by actually publishing financial support proof. Search-wise, they guarantee excellent results. Searches on Ecosia are based on Bing technology. Plus, Ecosia enhances this technology with unique algorithms.

They also promise that they will always be completely CO2-neutral. It means that Ecosia doesn’t have any carbon emissions related to your searches.

So, Are They Legit?

Ecosia.org is a certified B Corporation. What this means is that Ecosia is a for-profit company. However, the “B” stands for the fact that Ecosia got its certificate from B Lab, which is a nonprofit organization. This certification means “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.”

That all means that Ecosia is a legitimate green search engine. It works, and more people should come aboard this remarkable movement.

Does Ecosia plant trees? No, the Ecosia employees don’t plant trees. What they do is send a massive part of their ad revenue to organizations that do. It worked well so far.

Why Use Ecosia

According to Ecosia, the company helps plant a tree every 30 seconds. It is quite a number, as it amounts to almost 3,000 trees per day.

The website features a counter in the top-right corner to incentivize its users to do more searches (and thereby plant more trees). Somewhere around 45 searches will plant a single tree. Seeing that you’ve helped plant a tree is a very cool feeling. The best part is that you don’t have to donate any money and don’t have to do anything but bookmark the website and search.

So, Ecosia does help plant trees. Many trees around the globe burned in the flames of bushfires and forest fires over the recent years. The last Australian bushfire has raged for months.

Trees not only produce oxygen but also absorb carbon dioxide. They are a vital tool in fighting climate change. Trees also prevent soil erosion and absorb air pollutants. Forest also help the ecosystem and regulate water cycles. Trees are the lifeline of our little blue planet.

So, by planting a few trees every few days, you’re contributing to the global awareness in this department. The best of it all is that you don’t have to do much to help.

Ecosia Rocks!

Set aside a few minutes from your day to bookmark Ecosia and make it your default search engine. That is all you need to do to help our planet. Ecosia is a quality search engine in its own right. It is powered by Bing and its native, unique algorithms. Instead of searching the web with Google, do your searches with Ecosia and help plant a few trees while you’re at it.

Will you give Ecosia a shot? Do you like the idea? Let us know what you think in the comment section below and feel free to join in on the discussion.