Eco search engine branches out
by Jo-ann Hodgson in At home on 25.04.08
The world’s first ‘green’ search engine launched in 14 countries across the world last week, and claims to have already sponsored the planting of over 3,000 trees.
Ecocho, meaning ‘ultra-ecological’, is an Australian initiative designed to offset carbon emissions by sponsoring the planting of up to two trees for every 1,000 searches made through the Yahoo-powered engine. It says each pair of trees will help to remove a ton of CO2 from the atmosphere. Like Blackle, which we wrote about last year, you can also view it on a black screen.
As we write this, it had generated enough money through internet advertisers to plant 3,632 trees in New South Wales, Austraila, in the first phase of its ‘tecology’ – if you will – master plan. If the site is a success, Ecocho intends to branch out of Australia and put down roots in Europe, America and other parts of the world.
“Ecocho.co.uk aims to reinvest 70% of the site’s revenue in carbon-offset credits and as the site progresses, we’ll begin to support similar carbon-offsetting schemes in other states and countries,” explained founder Tim Macdonald. “The search engine is one of the easiest ways people can change their everyday behaviour to make a positive impact on the environment.”
However, Ecocho was delivered a blow when Google withdrew its services from the site shortly after launch. The world’s number one search engine was initially being used to provide search and advertising to the site, but Google Australia said that Ecocho had violated its commercial advertising policies and never had approval to use Google.
It remains to be seen whether the initiative can grow and prosper without the support of the so-called ‘king of search’, and not everyone agrees that carbon offsetting is the answer, but we admire the innovative thinking behind harnessing the power of technology for ecological good.
IMAGE by Flickr user Jan Tik
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