This Browser Extension Plants Trees While You Google

Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland

The planet needs all the help it can get right now, including me constantly looking up "how to cook bacon in the oven." 

That's right — Ecosia is a search engine that uses its ad revenue to plant trees around the world.

I first heard about it, I was like "Hmmm, I want to... but how will this affect my interneting?"

It won't, really. It's a Chrome and Firefox extension and it just works automatically when one uses one's search bar like one normally would. It feels 99% the same as your normal googling experience, but it's not actually Google.

Ecosia's current project is focused on re-greening the edge of the Sahara in Burkina Faso. These trees act like a buffer to help prevent the desert from expanding faster and overtaking fertile land.

Learn more and try it out here.


Photo from my trip to Vatnajökull National Park in Southern Iceland (which is sort of ironic because there are very few trees in Iceland — it'll just be an inside joke between you and me)