With the current election only a week away, I have been taking a considerable amount of time trying to make sense of the hopes, concerns, and questions of my peers so that I might become a more informed and more educated voter. One of the many privileges of attending college is the exposure that a student receives to the opposing and diverse attitudes of others. The multitude of views and voices on Wake Forest’s campus are beautiful, and taking a moment to hear and thoughtfully listen to them, offers one a more transformative experience than you may expect.
One of the more resonant conversations that I had with a peer had to do with deforestation and the climate crisis. I will admit, though I am fully on science’s side and I both see and believe that we are causing a great deal of harm to our planet, I have never really evaluated and reconsidered how the choices that I make are affecting the place in which I dwell. To put it bluntly, I am not the most environmentally conscious.
So to that, I say: wherever you may stand with this issue, at least take note of and educate yourself on the swelling amount of data being presented to us. Scientists and environmentalists are desperately trying to get the attention of those willing to listen; even celebrities, public figures, and national leaders are getting involved. Earlier this month, Price William gave his first TED talk on the climate crisis and urged all those listening in to take such change seriously and with action.
So what can we do, and more specifically, what can you and I do, if we are both absorbed in our own worlds of seemingly endless to-do lists and little free time, to proceed with selflessness and care for the fate of our planet?
And if you are not ready to devote your entire life to environmentalism and conservation, Ecosia is a small contribution that all of us should consider doing. In the early months of 2020, I came across a search engine called Ecosia. Ecosia is a free, online browser that reforests the Amazons while you search the web. This seems too good to be true, right? My initial thoughts, exactly. How can I really be planting trees from a search engine? I felt obligated to do some further investigation before I gave myself a moral pat on the back for passively saving the environment while online shopping.
And after some digging, here is what I found. Similar to other search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo, Ecosia makes its profit from the advertisements that it displays on a user’s browser. Eighty percent of the revenue generated from these advertisements is then donated to organizations dedicated to reforestation and the replanting of trees. Now, let me be clear in saying that the Ecosia employees themselves are not directly responsible for planting trees. Non-profit organizations across the globe are helping close the gap between the exploitation and conservation of our planet with Ecosia’s revenue.
So where are the trees? In Peru, trees are being replanted in the San Martin region, which suffered mass deforestation from cocaine production. In Burkina Faso, trees are being replanted to preserve the Sahara desert, and through the help of Ecosia’s partner, OGZ, the company is digging water basins and wells for villagers. Likewise, trees are actively sprouting in Brazil, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Ghana, Haiti, and even Indonesia. Clearly, the company has a substantial amount of ground covered, and quite literally, is changing the world.
Still skeptical? Ecosia is a certified B Corporation, which means that they must have “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency” (B Lab). B Corporation, which stems from B Lab, is a non-profit organization that certified Ecosia as a legitimate and reliable green search engine. In fact, Ecosia is entirely Co2 neutral which means that their servers run on renewable energy.
And with that, it quite literally takes a couple of seconds to get involved with the preservation, reforestation, and conservation of our planet. Since using Ecosia, my searches have planted 1,499 trees! When you start to use the browser, your progress is displayed in the corner of your screen to update the running total of trees that you have planted.
So if you want to get involved go to https://www.ecosia.org/ and start an account to start planting!
And now I will leave you with one final thought: what are the consequences of leaving the obligations of all in the hands of some? Do not let others take accountability for your own doings. Do not passively wander the world and excessively reap its resources like so many of us do. Though I have a great way to go and much to learn, taking action starts now and for me, it started with Ecosia. So get out there and get searching!
Sources:
https://bcorporation.net/about-b-corps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w6Ztmpm910&feature=youtu.be