EXBERLINER Issue 164, October 2017

REGULARS
#ROUND-UP
Give trees a chance
It’s hard not to get doomy
and gloomy about climate
change, but could a little
more green in the world help
stave it off? You can’t blame
these Berliners for trying!
ECO SEARCH ENGINE
Founded by Christian Kroll in 2009, Ecosia is
a search engine that piggybacks off Microsoft’s
Bing to offer the tantalising promise
of literal clicktivism: every time you search
for something, 80 percent of the ad revenue
profits go to reforestation and tree-planting
projects around the world. With over 5.5
million active users, the site claims to have
planted almost 14 million trees on volcano
slopes in Nicaragua, in coastal forests in
Madagascar and in the Mount Saran foothills
in Indonesia – well on its way to its goal of a
billion trees by 2020.
Download it as an app or install its plug-in
to Chrome or Firefox, and Ecosia will replace
Google as your default search engine. It’s
fun to keep track of how many trees have
(supposedly) been planted as a result of your
Ecosia: Every time you search for something,
80 percent of the ad revenue profits
go to tree-planting projects.
Events
Allfacebook Marketing Conference
Just in case you don’t already spend
enough time on Facebook, this conference
at BCC on October 5 promises
to help you #connect #engage
and #learn. If you’ve got €650 for a
ticket, that is.
Codemotion
If you see yourself more as a developer
than an influencer, the Berlinedition
of the coding conference will
bring together 500 visitors at the
Kulturbrauerei from October 12-13.
DeGUT
Meanwhile, future founders might
prefer this trade fair for start-ups
and entrepreneurs with a packed
programme of exhibitions, speeches
and even business angel speed
dating. Check it out at Arena on
October 13-14.
incessant browsing – 1390 in two months in
my case, based on the number of my searches
matched with the 45 seconds it takes to
finance one new tree. This is still technically
Bing you’re working with, so the search
results can leave a bit to be desired (and your
data is still being gathered). But overall it’s a
very easy way to feel like you’re doing just a
little good each day.
WALL OF TREES
When planting new trees is not an option,
why not mimic them? That’s the idea behind
CityTree, a mobile installation that’s basically
a four-by-three-metre self-watering wall of
moss. It’s the brainchild of Berlin-based company
Green City Solutions, whose co-founder
Zhengliang Wu claims that moss cultures
have a much larger leaf surface area than any
other plant, making them able to capture
more dust, nitrogen dioxide and ozone gases.
One CityTree supposedly has the benefit of
up to 275 actual trees. At a cost of €25,000
per “tree” it’s not cheap, but has the added
benefit of a built-in bench (if not shade).
They’ve already popped up in Paris, Brussels
and Hong Kong. Here in Berlin, there’s one
“planted” at Hauptbahnhof to tackle some of
the transport exhaust. But with our notoriously
bad air quality, let’s hope we see some
more sprouting up soon. n
INSIDER TIPS
& EXCLUSIVE
GIVEAWAYS
Sign up for the Exberliner
Newsletter at www.exberliner.com
24
OKT
01
NOV
02
NOV
10
NOV
12
NOV
12
NOV
08
NOV
08
OKT
06
NOV
OCTOBER 2017