Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas is used by trees for photosynthesis, a chemical reaction that produces food for the trees to live. So the more trees we plant, the more CO2 will be locked away. Most of us don’t have acres of land where we can plant with trees, but there is something we can all do: use the search engine Ecosia, and they will do the tree planting for free for us.

How does it work? Ecosia uses the ad revenue from your online searches to plant trees where they are needed the most.

Ecosia was founded in 2009 by Christian Kroll, a German man who travelled the world searching for inspiration for a business model that would have a positive social impact. He learned about reforestation projects in the Atlantic Rainforest, and that planting new trees could neutralise CO2 emissions on a large scale.

So all you have to do is add the Ecosia app, and start using it to search the internet. They’ll do the rest.

by ALISON PENMAN