A search engine like Google, except for one small detail: It plants trees!

Or: How Ecosia might finally make Bing happen.

Are you ready to spend zero dollars, change one small habit, and save part of the Earth?

Meet the search engine that also plants trees: Ecosia. It might be one of the easiest ways to help out your neighbors.

Every search you make on Ecosia gives about .5 cent toward the planting of a tree in Burkina Faso, in Africa.

A huge, half-century drought devastated the region, and trees are a way to regain what was lost — and help people too!

Here's how you can help. It's almost TOO easy.

1. You search, and Ecosia makes its money from search income.

Search income is money made on the little ads you see when you search for stuff.

Image via Ecosia.

2. Each search earns about half a cent.

3. To plant one tree, it costs 28 cents. That's about 56 searches = one tree!

Ecosia has already planted just under 2.5 MILLION trees. So join the party, right?!

You might be thinking, "What does drought have to do with trees?" As it turns out, a lot.

During drought, vegetation dries up.

Food is hard to grow, and jobs that come from growing food become even harder to come by. The result is hunger, lack of work, loss of life, and at the end of it all ... huge terrifying dust storms?!!?

That's a giant dust storm from drought and not enough trees. Image via Jeff Attaway/Flickr

Yeah. Without water, soil becomes dust, and it wreaks havoc on humans and other life forms during a drought. Trees are the beginning of solving these problems.

By replenishing trees lost to drought, Ecosia replenishes the earth and provides work for the people of the region. Economies form around the planting of these trees. It's transformative.

So why is everyone not using this tree-planting, life-saving search engine? Well, I think I have an idea.

Ecosia runs on ... Bing.

Sure, it's a perfectly acceptable search engine, but I get that you might be hesitant to use it. Because, well, it's just not Google. And let's be real: It's the search engine used in most movies but not in most lives.

I'm signed up for Ecosia, so to ease all of your "eww Bing" feelings, I searched for some things. Let's see how it went:

1. Where is the nearest pizza place?

Google kinda won that one. But that's because Google knows exactly where I am. Creepy maybe? Ecosia isn't as stalkery. And I'm OK with that. I usually use my phone or Yelp for restaurants, so I can live with this.

But I earned .5 cent for trees! That feels good.

2. Why is Katy Perry mad at Taylor Swift?

When it comes to celebrity feuds that I kinda wonder about, I want my information fast. Google let me know it allegedly might be because Katy stole Taylor's dancers. Ecosia gave me some more up-to-the-minute news about a possible jab that Taylor made. I think Ecosia won that one.

And earned .5 cent!

3. Who is my hometown's state representative?

Hm. Both results were a little bit not helpful. Actually, I'm a little bit concerned that both Bing/Ecosia and Google are better at telling me about Katy Perry than they are about my elected officials, but that's a real talk for another time.

Again, I earned .5 cent!

Either way, that's 1.5 cents I made toward a tree, just by being curious. Totally worth it.

Go to Ecosia.org if this sounds like your kinda search.

You can use Ecosia on the web or with a browser extension! Just go to Ecosia.org and take it from there.

Happy world-saving!

Thumbnail image in public domain.

When this CEO sold his company, he gave his longtime employees an average bonus of $237,000 each.

When CEO Nevzat Aydin sold his food delivery company for a whopping $589 million, he did something very few CEOs do with that kind of windfall.

Sorry, only two pictures of this guy on Getty. Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images.

He paid $27 million of it back to his employees.

According to Ivana Kottasova at CNN Money, Aydin felt his workers "deserved to benefit from the company's sale."

"Yemeksepeti's [the company] success story did not happen overnight and many people participated in this journey with their hard work and talent," he told CNN Money.

The bonuses are worth $237,000 on average. They were paid from the proceeds of the sale of the company.

Though the bonus is limited to employees who have worked for the company for two years or more, many stand to benefit.

They must be elated. Salaries at the company appear on par with the national average in Turkey, where Yemeksepeti is based, meaning that regardless of the company's value, workers weren't being paid a whole lot — between $1,000 and $2,000 per month on average. That's roughly $12,000-$24,000 annually.

Aydin is the latest in a growing line of CEOs to realize that doing right by their employees is not just good manners, but also good for business.

And this is the other one. Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images.

According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, for workers at the low end of the pay scale, small increases in pay can lead to large increases in overall happiness.

And large increases in overall happiness can have a positive effect on employee retention, ultimately saving a company money in the long run.

Still, Aydin's incredible generosity highlights the need to compensate workers fairly for their contributions.

And not just with occasional, unexpected money showers, but in their actual paychecks.

As recently as 1980, CEO pay in the U.S. was roughly 42 times what the average American worker made. In 2015, top CEOs made 373 times the average worker salary.

What Aydin did was incredibly altruistic, but also incredibly rare. Not every CEO is as generous, and most don't grant their employees such gigantic bonuses upon a sale of the company.

That's why workers across the U.S. and around the world are asking for things like a higher minimum wage and an expansion of overtime rules.

'Cause ultimately, it's actually pretty easy to reward an employee for a job well done.

You don't even have to unexpectedly dump $20 million+ on their heads. Though that's a super-nice thing to do.

All you have to do is...

Pay them fairly in the first place.

Preferably with giant, fanned-out money stacks. Photo by Noel Celis/Getty Images.

5 miraculous Amber Alert rescues that prove heroes are everywhere.

These are so frightening and so inspiring.

When you see or hear an Amber Alert, what do you usually do?

Photo by Tony Webster/Flickr

Sometimes it's the middle of the night, and the buzz of your cell phone stirs you out of a deep sleep before you can silence it. Other times, the alert interrupts your favorite song on the radio. Maybe you wait patiently for it to end. Maybe you change the station.

After all, who hasn't wondered, "What are the odds?"

Sure, the alerts are heartbreaking, but what are the odds you'll bump into the missing kid? What are the odds you'll see the getaway car? What are the odds you'll be able to do anything about it?

Turns out, better than you think.

Here are five recent stories of people who suddenly found themselves face to face with a kidnapped child ... and rose to the occasion.

High intensity situations require calm nerves and quick thinking. Kudos to these people for noticing the Amber Alerts at the right time and, in some cases, for having the courage to act right then and there.

1) 2-year-old Ronnie Tran was found when his baby sitter, John Tuong, saw an Amber Alert ... for Ronnie.

John Tuong had no idea he was baby-sitting a missing kid. Image courtesy of KOMO News

Ronnie was kidnapped by his 65-year-old maternal grandmother, who, along with an accomplice, had attacked and restrained his mother. She left Ronnie with a family friend, John Tuong, who merely thought he was baby-sitting his sister's boyfriend's son.

Tuong saw an Amber Alert on his phone the next morning and realized the kid in the alert was actually asleep in the next room. John called the police immediately and Ronnie made it home safe.

2) 6-year-old Kloe was taken from her bed on February 21, 2015. Thanks to a gas station employee, she was back home on February 22.

Missing child Kloe Donohoo 6yoa, taken from 2002 Yorktown, has been found safe. More info coming soon. Thank you all!— Corpus Christi PD (@CorpusChristiPD) February 22, 2015

Kloe was abducted in the middle of the night by a family friend. After she was reported missing, an Amber Alert went out, which, luckily, was seen by a clerk at a local gas station. The clerk recognized Kloe from the alert and tipped off police that he had seen the girl, the man who had taken her, and the van he was driving.

The clerk's account helped police narrow their search, and Carlin was eventually stopped on the interstate by a trooper, some 300 miles from Kloe's home, and taken into custody.

Kloe made it home to her family safe and sound the next day.

3) Leah and Jordan's kidnappers' RV broke down. The cops that pulled over to help had just seen the Amber Alert.

#AmberAlert: Leah Avila,3, & Jordan Avila, 4. Missing from Houston. May be in blue Nissan sedan bound for Colorado. http://pic.twitter.com/6e4iRu60cG— KRDO NewsChannel 13 (@KRDONC13) March 4, 2015

Amber Alerts aren't just for bystanders, they're for law enforcement too.

After 3-year-old Leah and 4-year-old Jordan were taken by relatives of their mother, the kidnapper's RV broke down on the side of the highway. Two deputies stopped by the vehicle to try to help them get back on the road. Luckily, the deputies had seen the Amber Alert and recognized the kids inside the vehicle.

Both made it back home safely the next day, but who knows what might have happened had the RV not broken down or if the cops weren't on the lookout for the missing kids.

4) A stranger stole a car with 3-year-old Bella inside. Later, a quick-thinking bystander physically pulled her to safety.

Leslie and Bella pose inside her bakery, Mini Cupcakes. Photo courtesy of Leslie Fiet, used with permission.

A strange woman asked to bum a cigarette from Bella's father as he walked into the 7-Eleven convenience store. He gave it to her. Then, the woman jumped in the car, with Bella still inside, and drove off.

Later on, the owner of a local cupcake bakery, Leslie Fiet, spotted the car after seeing the Amber Alert and she heroically pulled Bella from the backseat.

"My initial thought was to call 911 (when I discovered the car) but then I looked closer and saw Bella was in a tremendous amount of stress, hyperventilating and crying," Fiet told ABC News. "I just dropped my phone and ran out the door."

She locked Bella, and herself, inside the bakery until Bella's parents and police could arrive.

5) A pizza shop employee on her break spotted 7-year-old Nicolas and followed his kidnapper until police could arrive.

Courtney was brave to follow the kidnapper; and it paid off. Photo courtesy of KRIS TV.

Courtney Best, who was working at a small pizza shop in Corpus Christi, Texas, saw an Amber Alert on her phone while on her smoke break. She looked up and just happened to see the vehicle in question, a white Dodge Avenger, sitting in the parking lot in front of her with a child inside.

She followed the car, while on the phone with police, as it drove away.

"Cause, what are the odds? What are the odds of me looking at my phone?" Courtney told KrisTV. "And I usually don't even look at Amber Alerts, as bad as that sounds. I look at them and I don't really pay attention."

Thanks to her quick thinking, the police were able to recover Nicolas and return him safely to his family.

According to Robert Hoever of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, about 95% of Amber Alerts are resolved within 72 hours.

Robert, who is Director of Special Programs at the NCEMC, told Upworthy, "You can definitely see a huge change in how fast children are recovered today. The technology out there today helps."

In addition to wireless alerts, his organization also partners to issue alerts via Internet service providers, search engines, Internet ad exchanges, and even digital billboards.

And, Robert adds, if you ever find yourself in a situation like this, with any sort of information about a missing child, call 911 before you do anything. Emergency personnel will be able to help you navigate the situation.

We see a lot of Amber Alerts go viral, which is great, but we don't often get to see the happy endings.

Sadly, not every Amber Alert ends with a reunion. But the more we share these alerts with our networks, the more people they reach and the more likely they are to be seen by the right people.

In the meantime, it's comforting to know that most of these kids eventually make it home safely.

Thanks to the folks at KOMO News and KTV News for providing permission to use the photos above. Also, a big thanks to Leslie Fiet for not only being a hero, but for letting us use her photo. She says she's still in touch with Bella and receiving well wishes from around the world to pass on to the little girl. And, of course, a huge thanks to Robert Hoever for speaking with us for this story.

If you're interested in learning more about the Amber Alert system, please visit www.missingkids.org, call 1-800-THE-LOST, or check out this nifty infographic.

Homeless people aren't safe sleeping on streets. That's why these 'parasitic pods' are so fantastic.

Every person deserves a warm, dry place to rest their head.

These may look like something you'd spot in an urban design magazine for rich people:

Illustration courtesy of James Furzer.

But looks can be deceiving.

At first glance, it's not exactly clear what they are, right? Maybe a few fancy extensions on homes for the wealthy? A new public art project? Greenhouses for millionaires who grow their own kale?

Nope, nope, and definitely not.

These design concepts are intended to help some of London's most vulnerable: its homeless people.

James Furzer — an architectural technician studying his craft at the University of Greenwich — created these award-winning "parasitic sleeping pods." And while "parasitic" isn't exactly a word with positive connotations, they're actually pretty cool. The pods can be attached to any building to provide a safe space for users to rest their head.

Check these things out!

Illustration courtesy of James Furzer.

Accessible by ladder, they would be lightweight, modular, and a safer place to stay than the street, Furzer told Upworthy.

Illustration courtesy of James Furzer.

He was inspired to design the pods for a simple reason: Homeless people are people, too.

"I feel it is the duty of us as humans to be compassionate to others in need and not treat them as vermin," he said.

"The homeless community needs to be given a safe, warm, dry space to stay."

Illustration courtesy of James Furzer.

His innovative designs aren't just cool to look at — they would help solve a serious problem.

While the pods themselves won't fight homelessness, they would help protect London's homeless from both inclement weather and street violence.

Research found homeless people in the U.K. are 13 times more likely to experience violence than people who aren't homeless. They're also more at-risk of becoming victims of theft, sexual assault, and property damage. The pods would help protect users from anyone out to harm them.

The hope would be for charities focused on fighting homelessness to monitor the pods so users could enter and exit safely, according to Furzer. Ideally, the same organizations would also provide upkeep of the pods, so they'd remain clean and habitable.

The pods are Furzer's response to an influx of public spaces that are designed to shoo homeless people away.

"Recently there has been a rise in 'hostile architecture' across London," he explained, noting the "anti-homeless spikes" (which I wrote about last week) that aim to keep homeless people from resting around town.

"These are implemented as a deterrent to the homeless, not aimed at helping."

These are an example of anti-homeless spikes. Aren't they nice? *shaking head* Photo by Space, Not Spikes.

Alas, for now, Furzer's pods live only on paper.

The designs face a few uphill battles before becoming a reality, he explained.

For one, Furzer would need to get funding for a prototype. He would also need to overcome other barriers — like political roadblocks and finding appropriate locations — not to mention the possibility of adverse reactions from the public.

But even if the designs only stay at the idea level, Furzer feels his work can make a difference.

"If my concept can help engage a shift in the mindset of the public towards the homeless," he said, "then I feel it is a success."

I reached out to James Furzer after seeing his designs on Mashable. Thumbnail photo courtesy of James Furzer.

A short comic strip explains how our double standard about feelings hurts men, too.

Let's talk about men's feelings — more specifically, how they're not allowed to feel them.

Let's talk about "manfeels." Also known as "bromotions."

Like when your fantasy team falls into last place, except different.

Isn't it weird how we always have to add masculine prefixes to things that aren't traditionally considered to be "masculine"? Sure, you could say it's meant to be funny or ironic. But is it always? And even then ... why do we have to go out of our way to create new words for completely normal things that guys do or feel, and that they've done and felt for centuries?

This great comic from Everyday Feminism explores the ways in which we oppress men's emotions.

The comic is called "The Media Is Lying to You About Men's Emotions, And It's Really F*cked Up – Here's a Healthier View," and it's by an artist who goes by Robot Hugs, which is kind of like dude-hugs but with less muscle-y pats on the back and more cold, unfeeling machinery.

Ironically, the cold, unfeeling nature of robot hugs is the exact problem with men's emotions that this comic talks about.

Hey, whoa, wait, before we continue ... men's emotions? On a site called Everyday Feminism? Actually, yeah.

There are some corners of the Internet that unfortunately conflate the idea of feminism with the oppression of men, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The grievances of those who champion for "men's rights" — issues like custody, paternity leave, and the high frequency of men engaged in dangerous jobs, such as military or construction — are actually symptoms of the larger systems that feminism aims to dismantle.

Just a heads up: I'm gonna be talking in really simplistic terms about the ridiculous way we usually talk about “dude" things and “lady" things. There is obviously more complexity within and beyond this, including lots of other layers about gender and sex and sexual orientation in general, but that's for next week's class.

The comic is about allowing people of all genders to access the full range of emotions involved in the human experience.

Think about it this way: all those problems I mentioned above? They're directly related to the idea of traditional roles, where men fulfill the hard "masculine" duties like hunting, protection, and physical labor, while women do the soft "feminine" work of nurture and caretaking.

This is what people mean when they talk about "patriarchy." When societal pressures force men and women into binary opposition, it creates a system of unfair double standards where an act of self-expression is interpreted differently depending on which gender role society assigns to us.

Or, to put it simply, if you're a man and you express anger, you're treated differently than if you're a woman who expresses anger, because of the way we perceive different emotions based on gender role stereotypes.

The comic lays this problem out with some really clear examples.

That's dudes on the left and the ladies on the right, with the shared emotional experience in the middle.

When society tries to limit and define what it means to "be a man," it implies that everything opposite — aka feminine — is wrong or bad.

This is where things start to get messy, and someone inevitably says, "But women's bodies are usually more frail!" or "But women are more emotional" which leads to "But I'm a chivalrous man and must assert my noble alpha-maleness by protecting and providing for a delicate woman!"

And hey, maybe you're not wrong about that. But you are wrong in thinking that those qualities typically perceived as "feminine" are themselves innately wrong, or somehow lesser than the stereotypically "masculine" qualities. You might not realize it, but that line of thinking has a serious effect on the language centers of your brain and the way that you perceive the world around you.

Traditional gender roles seek to confine both men and women alike, and the more we adhere to them, the more we hurt everyone.

The simple truth is that men and women and all humans alike are complex, complicated creatures, full of contradictions and inner feelings. But when men give into societal pressures to suppress their emotions (for fear of seeming too pejoratively "feminine"), those simmering feelings trapped below the surface tend to swell into something worse, which can lead to greater mental and physical damage both to themselves and to those around them.

There are some men's rights proponents who like to point to the higher rates of suicide and addiction among men, as well as the high percentage of men employed in risky and potential traumatic fields, such as military and police work.

They're right to do so (as much as it pains me to admit). But that's not the fault of feminism — it's because of toxic masculinity.

According to the World Health Organization, women are actually at greater risk for being diagnosed with a mentall illness, such as depression and anxiety. But they're also way more likely than men to seek out that diagnosis in the first place — which may have something to do with those societal pressures that tell men that these emotions are feminine and, therefore, weak and should be repressed or ignored. This can lead to substance abuse problems (1 in 5 men, as opposed to 1 in 12 women) and/or suicide (nearly twice as likely in men as women). It can also lead to violence — in the home, on the streets, or in schools or movie theaters across the country.

That's not to say that men cannot be victims of violence, of course. But this same toxic masculinity that encourages men to bottle up their emotions and hide their weaknesses also tells them to feel shame when they've been raped or physically abused — both of which do happen, and both of which are tragically underreported because they are so emasculating.

So instead of telling people to "man up," let's encourage people to confidently express their masculinity in whichever way they choose.

Here's a simple test for determining whether something is masculine: If the person identifies as a man, then whatever way they choose to express that is manly. 'Nuff said.

Check out the full comic over at EverydayFeminism.com.

Thumbnail from Everyday Feminism. Used with permission.

Meet the incredible 8-year-old who just got two brand-new real hands.

He lost both his hands and feet after a childhood infection almost took his life. Now an incredible surgery has 8-year-old Zion making history.

8-year-old Zion's hands were amputated after a childhood infection. But that hasn't stopped him from being a happy or healthy kid.

GIF via NBC News.

Playing guitar? Check. Video games? Check. Hide-and-seek with his little sister? You got it. And while that sounds pretty average, for Zion it's kind of extraordinary. That's because at 2 years old, Zion had his hands and feet amputated following a life-threatening infection. Then, he underwent a kidney transplant. That's a heck of a lot of surgery for a little kid. But today he lives a pretty normal life, and all with a big smile on his face.

GIF via NBC News.

Now Zion's making history as the world's first double hand transplant patient.

GIF via NBC News.

Wait. A double hand transplant?! Yup. 40 surgeons, including 10 hand specialists, worked over a painstaking 11 hours to give Zion two brand-new hands. And unlike expensive prosthetics that have to be upgraded and refitted every few years, Zion's hands will grow with him.

Even though the surgery was a success, there's still lots of work to be done. Hand transplants require a lifetime of special care, medicines, and physical therapy. And, according to the Mayo Clinic, success is not guaranteed.

GIF via NBC News.

Even though Zion's hands are still pretty new, he already has big plans. Like picking up his little sister.

image from NBC News.

Despite the challenges ahead, Zion has his eyes on the prize. When asked what he's most looking forward to once his recovery is over, he had this to say:

"Pick up my little sister from daycare, and wait for her to run in to my hands and I pick her up and spin her around."

Do you hear that? That's my lonely, only-child heart melting. Hey Zion, if you're ever in the market for a big sister, I'm right here.

GIF from "Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown"

The most exciting thing about Zion's story? It doesn't end with him. His historic double hand transplant is only the beginning.

Because he's the first, doctors and physical therapists will be closely monitoring his progress as he heals and learns how to use his new hands. Just think: A few years from now, multiple limb transplants will be old news, as more and more people benefit from this incredible technology.

Original video by NBC News. Learn more about Zion's surgery on the Huffington Post.

A 2009 police encounter nearly cost this Denver teen his life. He's alive and telling his story.

He survived his 2009 run-in with police. Many others weren't so lucky.

In 2009, 19-year-old Alex Landau was pulled over by three Denver police officers.

Officially, the officers told Landau that he'd been pulled over for making an illegal left turn, a minor moving violation that ordinarily comes with a small fine.

Unfortunately for Alex, his experience was about to be anything but ordinary.

GIFs from StoryCorps.

Last year, Alex and his mother Patsy Hathaway shared the story of that evening with StoryCorps.

StoryCorps has since made a short animated video featuring their retelling:

For Alex, things took a dark turn after he asked the officers if they had a warrant to search his trunk.

"So I asked them, 'Can I please see a warrant before you continue to search?'" Alex says. "And they grabbed me and began to hit me in the face."

A piece published in Westword expanded on Alex's story.

"[The officer] then asked Landau if he could search his car.

Landau agreed. As the cop rummaged around the seats, two additional officers, a man and a woman, arrived in a second squad car. Once he was finished with the front and back seats, the first cop took Landau's keys and went to unlock the trunk.

Knowing about the weed there, Landau took several steps forward with his hands raised above his head, as if to show he meant no harm, and asked if the officer had a warrant to search the trunk."

After knocking Alex to the ground, the three officers continued to hit him with flashlights, radios, and, yes, fists.

"I could feel the gun pressed to my head. I expected to be shot."

As he gasped for breath, Alex heard one of the officers shout out, "He's reaching for her gun!" One of the officers then put a gun to Alex's head, saying, "If he doesn't calm down, we're going to have to shoot him."

That's when he blacked out.

Luckily, Alex survived to tell his story. Sadly, he'd be forced to relive it for years to come.

It took 45 stitches to close Alex's wounds — graphic photos of his injuries can be found here. Alex filed a report with the city, but the officers involved sidestepped responsibility for the assault. Two of the officers were eventually fired after getting caught beating another person (this time, it was on tape).

In 2013, the Denver Police Department announced that it had determined that officers involved in Alex's beating were not guilty of misconduct. Two years earlier, the department settled with Alex and his family for nearly $800,000.

Alex Landau beating: Attorney says decision not to charge officers ignores key evidence http://t.co/jwlFgGMBQs— DenverWestword (@DenverWestword) April 9, 2013

Alex's story isn't unique and that's what makes it so important to discuss.

The past few years have been filled with high-profile instances of unarmed black men like Alex being beaten and all-too-frequently killed by white police officers.

Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner, John Crawford III, Mike Brown, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, Akai Gurley, Rumain Brisbon, Tony Robinson, Phillip White, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray lost their lives after being confronted by police — and these are just some of the names since April 2014.

Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images.

This is the basis of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

If you have to ask why the movement is #BlackLivesMatter and not #AllLivesMatter, it's because to much of the world — and, disturbingly, to law enforcement — black lives often don't matter. That needs to change.

It's #BlackLivesMatter and not #AllLivesMatter because that's the reality. Alex's passenger — who was caught with drugs — made it through the night of their encounter with the police without injury. He's white.

4 things you should do when you

We've seen how this plays out. We've seen that Alex's story is not simply an outlier.

No one should have to fear that their encounter with police will land them in the hospital. No one should have to fear for their life when they see the blue and red flashing lights. But until that's the case, the most important thing we can do is to lift stories like Alex's.

Original video from StoryCorps.