There's a Better Way featured image

There is a better way

Larry Goldfarb June 15, 2022
14 Comments
There is a better way featured image

What do you do when you need directions? Or when you need to look up a definition?

Gone are the days of reaching for the dictionary or a map.

It’s so easy to type a question into a web browser. Those inquiries — millions a day the world over — generate income for the company that provides the software, profits from endangering our privacy, and depletes precious energy resources in the process.

There is a better way to find what you’re looking for! A public benefit alternative to the better-known corporate search engines, Ecosia is definitely different. This up-and-coming service:

  • Uses profits to plant trees where they’re most needed on the planet. 

  • Operates transparently, publishing its financials online every month. 

  • Doesn’t sell users’ personal data.

  • Produces more solar energy than it needs to power searches.

And, just to be clear, I am not talking about a few trees here and there. 

Thanks to more than 70 projects in 35-plus countries, Ecosia has planted over 151,978,000 trees — as of when I was writing this post. That’s nearly 152 million trees absorbing and storing carbon. 

It’s easy to switch to this planet-friendly option. You can update your browser’s default search engine or download the Ecosia website. Learn more on their website: www.ecosia.org. 

I used a photo by Tobias Aepppli from pexels.com as the basis for the image at the top of today’s blog.


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Responses

  2. Iris Loy June 16, 2022

    Dear Larry
    what a wonderful hint. Thanks. Just installed it and hope to contribute to more trees where ever they are needed….
    Thanks from Switzerland
    iris

  3. Ivan Houppertz June 16, 2022

    ECOSIA is a complete imposture, green washing among others….
    Any research will give you AMAZON as a first answer
    Just try with “Feldenkrais” …
    And anyway Internet is just one of the main source of concrete spreading
    (this is french english sorry)

    1. Larry Goldfarb June 23, 2022

      Hello Ivan –
      Thanks to your thought-provoking response, I did further research. I found a wide spread of opinions about their service, including one Reddit post that was very critical.
      I learned that they use Microsoft’s Bing to do searches, so they are supporting a big corporate search engine, one that isn’t environmentally oriented.
      Their promotional materials is misleading – the only way they make money is when a user clicks on an ad, which isn’t clear from their promo.
      They are planting trees and doing so in what some folks say is a well-considered, responsible fashion. Others point out the total number of trees they have planted equal the land mass of the Caribbean island of Santa Lucia.
      They do operate as a socially responsible B-corp — the first company in Germany to receive this accreditation — and, by publishing the financial report regularly, they provide a level of transparency that no other search engine can match.
      So are they “putting lipstick on a pig” or, given the available options, until something better comes along — are they the better, choice?
      I encourage you, dear readers, to your own research . . . using which ever search engine you choose.

  5. Ann Guhman June 16, 2022

    Thanks so much Larry. I haven’t heard of this one. I use DuckDuckGo to get away from the usual browsers. Looking into adding this. Now someone would just figure out how to make cryptocurrency without all the waste…

    1. Larry Goldfarb March 25, 2023

      Hello Ivan –
      I did try “Feldenkrais” in an Ecosia search. It brought up the FGNA (F Guild of N America) as the first response. There was no sign of “Amazon” anywhere in the list or response.
      Notwithstanding, now that I’ve learned more about this search engine, it does, indeed, seem like green washing.
      Thanks for saying so!