365 Ways to Save the Planet

Day 64 – This was a topic I was not fully aware of, yet my children were more familiar with the concept and even some of the search engine names. The more I looked into it the more I realized I needed to make the switch from Google.

Below are a few search engines that give back to various causes. I am sharing summaries of each search engine that can be found on their site, combined with information from No1Reviews.com.

Search Scene – Like Google, Bing and most other search engines, SearchScene makes its money from advertising – these are the ads that appear above and below your search results. If you find an ad that interests you and you click on it, they get paid a small fee by the advertiser – this is the same way that Google and Bing make money. The big difference between SearchScene and other search engines is that, instead of keeping all their profits, they donate 95% of our profits to charity.

Ecosia – Search ads generate income for Ecosia. Ecosia uses this income to plant trees. Ecosia donates 80% of its profits to tree planting projects, which not only plant trees, but also provide vital income to the workers who plant the trees in the world’s poorest places. Trees tend to be planted in South America, Africa and Indonesia, where the cost of planting trees is lower.

Ocean Hero – OceanHero is a search engine that makes its revenue from advertising, just like Google and Bing. However, unlike Google, OceanHero donates 50% of its profits to ocean cleaning projects via its partners Plastic Bank and Waste Free Oceans. 

Ekoru – Every search helps clean plastic with Big Blue Ocean Cleanup. Every search helps replant ocean seagrass with Operation Posidonia. All of their servers are powered by hydro-electricity.  Ekoru is powered by Bing and donates 60% of its revenues.

Givero – For every web search you make using Givero, they donate 50% of their ad revenue to good causes. You raise money simply by surfing the web. They donate to save the giraffes in Africa, rid the World’s oceans of plastic and help little girls go to school in Syria.

There are many more out there that will turn your searches into much needed help for the planet.

I have been using Search Scene since January 27th and have been very happy with my searching experience. I have racked up 1,007 eligible searches in that time. That number counts for votes. The votes determine how the profits are divided amongst the six charities that Search Scene supports. You can decide which out of the six you would like to support. I have included all six charities.

The charities that are supported by Search Scene are Eden Reforestation Projects (help plant trees and fight climate change), Oxfam (help fight global poverty), UNHCR (help support climate refugees), UNICEF (help support children in danger), WaterAid (help provide clean drinking water), and WWF (help fight climate change and protect wildlife).

So, the next time you Google something think about this, if Google similarly donated 95% of its profits to charity, that would amount to roughly $85 billion each year. That money could be used to re-plant the entire Amazon rainforest and end world hunger.

Tomorrow, celebrating frozen food.