Green Alternatives to Google Searches
Corrected 1-12-09: A previous version of this post mentioned the site EcoSearch. The site is still in operation, but no longer donates to green charities through Google ad revenue.
It's just a few clicks a day, but Google searches have an environmental impact too - 7 grams of carbon each, according to a recent study. To put it in visual terms, for every two Google searches you do, you've used the equivalent amount of energy as boiling water for a cup of tea. When you think of the massive amount of searches we do each day on Yahoo, Google and MSN, it adds up to a lot of energy consumed.
All search engines are not created equal, though. Green search engines donate money to environmental causes each time you click - and they're powered by the major search engines, so your results are comparable to a typical Google search. Here are two to try:
GoodSearch - Powered by Yahoo, GoodSearch donates 50 percent of profits to charity, and allows you to choose the charity of your choice before you start searching. The site also sponsors GoodShop, which donates up to 37 percent of the profit from any item you buy via the site to charity.
GoodTree - Powered by a combination of the major search engines, GoodTree also allows you to select charities to benefit from your search. The site also includes a social networking component, and 12.5 percent of profits go to charities.
(Source: Treehugger)
Update: Google has refuted the claims of the Times' story. Read more: Google Dispels Energy Usage Claims.
Tags: environment | Google
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Reader Comments
The study was wrong.
The study was wrong. Please stop spreading eco-nazi propaganda!
I switched to a green search engine
There are so many ways to improve our behaviour regarding the environement. The first thing I made was to switch to http://greenle.net. It makes me think or the environment every time I do a web search.
The result is that I make better decisions in my energy consumption and in the products I buy.
Green Alternatives to Google Searches
First of all, I'd like to comment on the thoughts of the person who wrote "One Volcano":
Maybe if man learns how to control volcanoes, then it would most probably be a better idea to encourage them to "spew their gases around the world" as that would diminish the amount of sunrays entering our athmosphere, reducing the earth's temperature.
Secondly, I don't hug trees, dress extaticly or even smoke cannabis. Actually most of the time, I wear a suit, and work as a Headhunter.
Thirdly, when you say promoting fear to gain power, what power is there to gain by campaigning against building a new runway at an airport. The only one that comes to my mind is the power to stop our planet overheating with the greenhouse gas effect.
Finally, what's the economic crisis got to do with it? The subject is about google searches creating 7 grams of carbon each.
To conclude, I believe that a google search may turn into a carbon emmission down the line, but I wouldn't say that it should be at the top of an environmentalist's diary. Also google stops us from trying to get info we seek out of books, which are made of paper, which comes from trees, and as we all most probably know, trees grow on Co2.
It's one thing to act towards the benefit of the environment, another to ignore it, but to actually stand against doing good for the environment is one of the most stupid mistakes a person can make. Either that or they're just afraid of facing up to reality even though deep down, they know it's happening now.
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