Environmentally conscious search engine Ecosia has lifted the wraps off a new cross-platform browser designed to cater to sustainable audiences.
Having already planted north of 205 million trees as a result of users’ online browsing activity, Ecosia’s latest effort involves a browser that works across Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
Just like the search engine’s similarities to Google, the browser is built on the open-source Chromium project, which gives it similarities to the likes of Google Chrome, making it easier for people to consider changing.
Ecosia launches its own browser
According to the company’s blog post, using the “greenest browser on Earth” will result in trees being planted in biodiversity hotspots globally. The company has also committed to producing 25Wh of electricity for each day that a user browses, which equates to around three hours of power for a lightbulb.
Some other benefits set to help users make more environmentally conscious decisions include the ‘Green Leaf,’ an icon that has been appearing next to plant-friendly organizations in the search results since 2019, and a climate pledge rating that assess a company’s impact on keeping rising global temperatures to a minimum.
Users of the new browser will also be able to use AI Chat – an OpenAI-based generative AI chatbot that works in a similar way to ChatGPT or Google Gemini. However, being such a data-heavy technology, artificial intelligence has been criticized for its use of natural resources and energy.
Ecosia also frames its browser as an option to “move away from Big Tech” in its effort to make a fairer and more sustainable Internet.
The built-in ad blocker and tracker blocking help to preserve some privacy online, but they also promise to speed up the browsing process, in turn having a favorable impact on energy consumption.