It seems paradoxical that all of us green bloggers are blogging at all. Computers and servers use up a lot of energy. And considering that about 90% of the energy produced in the US comes from non-renewable, polluting sources, well, that doesn't seem very green at all. It's been estimated that each time someone does a Google search, it's equivalent to the energy used to power a light bulb for an hour. (This doesn't include the energy it takes to power your computer.)

But there's one search engine that's trying to mitigate the effects of all that energy being produced – Ecosia. For every search someone conducts, Ecosia saves 2m² (2.4yd²) of rainforest. Ecosia is powered by Yahoo! and Bing, and is working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the Brazilian Amazon to preserve the complex ecosystem that is vital to life on the entire planet.

The rainforests are the lungs of the earth (taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen) and they hold rare, endangered, and as-yet-discovered plant and animal species.

Another cool thing about Ecosia is that it's just as easy to use as Google. If you have Firefox you can even set Ecosia as your primary search engine in the search toolbar. Or you can follow their instructions for installing Ecosia on your favorite browser so you can keep track of how much of the rainforest your searches saved. So far, Ecosia has saved 21,418,053 yd² of the rainforest.

Video: Learn more about how Ecosia works