By Billy Stockwell, Climate Correspondent
Bristol University has made the decision to switch to Ecosia following a campaign launched by two veterinary students.
The University of Bristol is switching its default search engine to Ecosia, a not-for-profit organisation that funds tree planting projects around the world.
Ecosia is the world’s largest not-for-profit search engine and has planted over 110 million trees in 31 wildlife hotspots since it was founded in 2009, including Brazil, Indonesia and Madagascar.
Universities across the globe are switching to Ecosia because of student led-campaigns 👀
— Ecosia (@Ecosia) February 27, 2020
Join the movement 👇 #EcosiaOnCampus https://t.co/Ycmt1rH1H0
The University made the decision to switch to Ecosia following a campaign launched by two veterinary students in 2018.
The students - Hannah Rose and Elspeth Taylor – have since been raising awareness about the benefits of using Ecosia, via social media and events on campus.
Elspeth said she was ‘thrilled’ about the University’s announcement.
She said: ‘The success of the campaign shows there’s a desire across the board to take action on the climate crisis, which is one of the biggest challenges we all face right now and will face for generations to come.’
Hannah believes that the announcement illustrates how the University ‘acknowledges their part in creating a more sustainable society’.
She hopes they ‘continue to display this pragmatism’ into the future.
‘We hope the change highlights the impact smaller changes in our lives can have on the wider global community,’ she added.
Erik Lithander, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement at the University of Bristol, says that switching to Ecosia is ‘one of the many steps’ the University is taking to promote sustainability.
The announcement makes the University of Bristol the third Russell Group university to make the switch to Ecosia.
Over the past three years, over 200 universities around the world have also made the switch, plant 170,000 trees in the process.
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In 2017 Ecosia was accredited as a B Corporation and built its own solar plant to ensure it was 100% renewable as a company.
If you want to contribute to Bristol’s Ecosia counter visit: ecosia.co/bristoluniversity
Featured Image: Cameron Scheijde
Do you use Ecosia on your own computer?
