Ecochow is a new Australian search engine and probably the world’s first "green" search engine.
It was launched on the 15th of April 2008, offering users in 14 countries the ability to contribute to offsetting carbon emissions through tree planting schemes simply by using it to query the Web. The search technology is available in 60 different languages.
Ecocho is aiming to offset greenhouse gas emissions by sponsoring the growth of up to two trees for every 1000 searches users make through the ecocho site, which utilises Yahoo and Google search engine technologies.
The founder Tim Macdonald explains: “The company has an agreement with Yahoo and Google to receive a percentage of advertising revenue. That money is then used to purchase carbon offset credits through the NSW government Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme”.
"If you look at pure numbers, in Australia alone you've got 800 million searches per month. If we can get just one or two percent of people to switch to ecocho that could make a dramatic difference for the environment," Macdonald said.
Global Carbon Exchange, as a broker of government accredited carbon credits, will facilitate the offsetting by retiring carbon credits. Read more here
The search engine launched in Australia, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and a further nine other countries, with future international tree planting schemes to be conducted through government accredited projects in each country.
Leading auditing firm KPMG is verifying the registering and retirement of credits, ensuring ecocho delivers on its aim to reinvest 70 percent of the site's revenue in carbon offset credits.
Global Carbon Exchange wishes ecocho to being able change the way web users think of search engines.
We recommend installing the ecocho toolbar to facilitate your searches
http://www.ecocho.com.au/

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