Eco-friendly search engine Ecosia is turning its users’ searches into trees

The latest instalment of eco-friendly advertising creatives from a Sky Zero Footprint Fund finalist has been unveiled, with CO2-negative search engine Ecosia launching a £250,000 TV campaign.

Ecosia’s initiative will be aired across a mix of channels and programming on linear, as well on AdSmart and video-on-demand (VOD) platforms using Sky Media’s One Campaign Addressable Proposition.

First hitting screens on March 1 - International Day of Forests - the climate active advert asks the nation to deviate away from traditional search engines and “switch to Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees”.

The advert means this in a literal sense, as Ecosia has pledged to plant trees everytime people use their search engine, supposedly equating to one tree every 1.3 seconds and giving users peace of mind knowing that by using the platform they are making the environmentally conscious choice.

Sina Samavati, Ecosia’s Creative Director, said: “Ecosia’s impact in combating the climate crisis is all thanks to a community of users and tree planters across the globe. Switching search engines and using Ecosia is the easiest way we can all be climate active and bring about positive change to people across the globe as well as our planet.

“Our ad was conceptualised, written and directed in house and produced thanks to an amazing local creative team in Berlin. We implemented a number of sustainable measures and we worked with highly committed people to produce an ad that delivers our message in a simple yet effective way.”

Paving the way for environmentally conscious businesses

Sky Media has said the goal of the Zero Footprint Fund is to give sustainably oriented organisations or campaigns a chance to hit the mainstream.

German-based Ecosia has 20 million active global users per month, nearly 2 million of which are in the UK, and has planted over 160 million trees because of its users’ searches.

These trees are planted in over 35 countries at over 13,000 sites with the aid of 70 partners across 75 projects globally. Ecosia claims that users finance one tree every 1.3 seconds through their online searches and pledges 100% of its profits to supporting climate action.

Sophie Dembinski, Ecosia’s Head of Policy & UK, said: “Ecosia’s collaboration with Sky Media highlights the positive impact businesses can make in fighting climate change and restoring biodiversity at a crucial time for the planet.”