deforestation Archives - Big Green Purse

Easiest Way in the World to Plant Trees: Use Ecosia to Search the Internet.

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 19:24:20 +0000

Here is the easiest way in the world to plant trees: use Ecosia instead of Google, Bing or Yahoo! when you search the Internet.

WHAT IS IT?

Ecosia is a new search engine that donates its ad revenue to plant trees. It’s a simple as that.

WHY BOTHER?

The world cannot exist without trees.

They help clean the air and protect our drinking water supplies. They absorb carbon dioxide so can help reverse the onslaught of climate change. They provide places for birds, animals, and insects to live and reproduce. Plus, they’re just darn pretty.

Here’s my first-hand account of deforestation in the Amazonian rainforest. But I bet you’ve seen lots of trees getting cut down where you live, too.

HOW DO YOU USE IT?

Install it on any browser you use, including Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera.

It takes literally seconds to install, costs nothing, and is just about the easiest tech upgrade/update/add on I have ever done. Ever.

And once it’s installed, you don’t even notice it. You just use it.

WHAT DOES IT COST?

Nothing.

Here’s how they explain it on their website:

Ecosia, like any other search engine, earns money from advertisements displayed next to the search results.

Ecosia then donates at least 80% of its surplus income to a tree-planting program.

The funds generated by Ecosia help to plant several trees every minute.

→ Ecosia earns about 0.5 cents per search through its ads.

→ It costs 28 cents (EUR) to plant one tree in Burkina Faso, where Ecosia is currently working with local groups to get trees planted.

HOW MANY TREES GET PLANTED?

When you do a search with Ecosia, they display a personalized tree counter, which shows you how many trees you have already helped plant. (Mine showed 21 when I started this post).

Rather than showing you how many trees you have planted all on your own, the counter shows you how many times you have contributed to the planting of a new tree based on the current cost of each tree.

In other words, joining Ecosia makes you part of a
community of people all over the world who will be helping to plant trees!

HOW MANY TREES SO FAR?

* Ecosia currently plants one new tree every 14 seconds.

* As of today, they’ve already planted 2,445,942 trees.

* Between December 2009 and August 2013, Ecosia supported a rainforest project run by World Wildlife Fund.

* From August 2013 until December 2014, Ecosia supported the Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees program.

* In January 2015, Ecosia began working with the Belgian-based We Forest and Entrepreneurs Without Borders organizations to plant trees in Burkina Faso, in west Africa.

CHECK IT OUT!

I hope you’ll go to Ecosia and check it out. It’s easy peasy and makes a big difference!

Thumbs up, Ecosia!

And if you want to plant your own tree at home anyway, here’s how!

The post Easiest Way in the World to Plant Trees: Use Ecosia to Search the Internet. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Do You Have Any “Thneeds?” Win Free Tickets to the Lorax if You ‘Fess Up.

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:18:26 +0000

When my kids were little, we loved reading Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” together.In case you don’t know, it’s the story of a greedy developer (well, that’s what I call him – Dr. Seuss called him the Once-ler) who cuts down all the Truffula Trees (but they could be ancient forests, or the grove of woods in a community) in order to produce something people don’t really need but are convinced they do (Dr. Seuss called it a “Thneed” – I call it “stuff” or worse, when I’m really annoyed). The Lorax tries to convince the Once-ler to save at least some of the trees. But the Once-ler, blinded by the glee he feels from making huge profits on his Thneeds, ignores the Lorax until the land far and wide is trashed and all the trees are gone.

You can’t miss the message: don’t sacrifice nature and our quality of life to greed, plain and simple as that.

Though the book was written in 1971, it’s as relevant today as it was forty years ago. In fact, the new movie based on The Lorax that’s premiering this weekend couldn’t be more timely. More than ever, we have to protect forests from clearcutting. And we have to protect the planet from the environmental and health impacts that accompany the manufacture of a whole lot of “stuff” we really don’t need.

That’s the big picture. Here at home, it’s also our resonsibility to stop buying so many “thneeds” – things we don’t really need. I’m looking around my house right now and I hate to admit it, but I see a lot more “thneeds” than I wish I did: stacks of books I know I’ll never read but just felt like I had to have, three different rain jackets (one would have been plenty), two different leashes for my dog, an electric breadmaker I thought I’d use but almost never do, a rice cooker I’ve never used, a sushi making kit I unwrapped but never tried, an accordion I really intended to learn to play…

Sure, I can pack all this stuff up and take it to Value Village or list it on freecycle.org. But I never should have bought it in the first place. I sure didn’t need it.

What about you? Do you have any “thneeds” you wish you hadn’t bought? Or is the Lorax inspiring you to think twice before buying a new “thneed” you don’t really need?

If so, let me know. In fact, thanks to Universal Pictures, I will provide a $25 Fandango Gift Card, which should cover two tickets to see the Lorax, to whomever reveals his or her most embarrassing “thneed” in the comments below.

So ‘fess up. What’s your “thneed”? And what are you going to do about it?

(The winner will be announced on Saturday, March 4).

The post Do You Have Any “Thneeds?” Win Free Tickets to the Lorax if You ‘Fess Up. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Please don’t squeeze the Charmin – or use it for anything else!

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:03:48 +0000

Charmin, Kleenex Cottonelle, Quilted Northern and Scott are among the toilet papers and tissues that do the most harm to forests and the environment, according to a new report by Greenpeace.

The non-profit research group evaluated dozens of brands of toilet paper, facial tissue, paper, towels and napkins according to three criteria:

1) How much recycled content they contained – using 100% recycled content helps protect forests because it significantly reduces the demand for trees, especially trees coming from native forests.

2) How much of that was post-consumer waste – to get the top ranking, at least 50% post-consumer waste needed to be used in manufacturing the product.

3) How the paper was bleached – the top-ranked products are not bleached using chlorine, which can create the toxic byproduct dioxin.

According to Greenpeace, Americans could save more than 400,000 trees if each family bought a roll of recycled toilet paper—just once.

The group has produced a pocket guide you can use when you shop to buy the most eco-friendly option.

Brands that ranked high on the Greenpeace list include:

* Green Forest

* 365 Whole Planet (available at Whole Foods)

* CVS Earth Essentials

* Seventh Generation

* Trader Joe’s

* Cascades

Of course, when it comes to napkins and towels, use cloth, and avoid the paper debate altogether.

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