There is a way of reducing your carbon footprint by producing negative carbon emissions from your activities. The best way to do this is by planting a tree. It is not enough to reduce our carbon footprint; we need to remove carbon dioxide from the environment as well. Deforestation contributes 12-20% to carbon emissions each year. The United Nations estimate we lose 10 million hectares of forest annually. Although deforestation has slowed down significantly over the decades, our consumption patterns mean the stock of trees are dwindling and we are still reducing the number of trees in the world by 15 billion a year.

If we all put in effort to grow trees, it could be game changer for the environment. What’s even better is that now we don’t have to put any money or effort into planting one. We can simply plant trees for free by browsing our smartphones every day! By using apps Ecosia and Treeapp, planting a tree could not be easier.

Ecosia

Ecosia is a search engine like Google and Yahoo. When you use Ecosia app to browse the internet and watch an advert, Ecosia receives money which they put into tree planting projects around the world. Ecosia claim to have a very similar algorithm and ranking system to Google, and it has been very successful. They have planted 220 million trees worldwide since 2009. So, you can plant trees whilst browsing the internet in your spare time.

Treeapp

Treeapp was started in the UK in 2020 and has grown incredibly rapidly. Since its inception, they have grown over 5 million trees. When you download the app, you watch an advert for 30 seconds and choose which country you would like that tree to be planted. They give you incentives to watch an advert on their app every day, but it is not required. Revenue from adverts is given to reforesting projects happening globally. This app makes it easy to plant hundreds of trees every year without leaving your home or paying any money.