Trees4AI: Using trees to promote the responsible use of AI. Visible. Transparent. For 1 Euro.

Would you like to take responsibility for your use of AI – in a straightforward, transparent and affordable way? Plant trees!

We’ve been planting trees for over 10 years. It all started with a simple idea: for every participant in our market research surveys, we plant a tree – inspired by Ecosia, the green search engine. We are, so to speak, the ‘Ecosia for market research’, as a GLS Bank employee put it so aptly.

Then, in 2017, it occurred to us: Why stop at market research? With Trees4Leads, we’ve established our 1-euro trees as a marketing incentive – initially as a replacement for Christmas cards under #BaunstattKarte, then as the #Trees4Leads marketing incentive initiative, e.g. for newsletter sign-ups, referral programmes, online orders or even passing driving tests. The response was overwhelming. Our customers’ ideas were incredibly creative.

And now we’re taking the next step: Trees4AI.

Because one question has been on our minds for years – and it’s becoming ever more pressing: What are we going to do about the ecological footprint of our digital world?

First it was the internet. Then Bitcoin. Now it’s AI.

Our 1-Euro trees for the responsible use of AI: Why now?

Most people are now aware that AI consumes a lot of energy. But exactly how much? And, above all, what concrete steps can we take?

The figures are sobering: a ChatGPT query consumes 2.9 watt-hours – about ten times more than a Google search. Recent studies by AlgorithmWatch (2026), AllaboutAI and Nature.com accuse tech companies of systematically concealing the climate impact of their AI products and systematically list the carbon footprint of AI.

At the same time, millions of employees in German B2B companies use AI tools every day. The question that almost no one can answer is:

„What are we doing about the environmental footprint of our AI usage?”

‘Trees4AI’ is our answer.

We cannot influence the energy policies of tech companies. But we make the CO₂ consumption of your AI usage tangible, raise awareness of the responsible use of AI, and offer a simple way to make a symbolic gesture – not as a perfect technical offset, but as a visible statement in favour of conscious technology use.

The calculation

10 million tokens correspond to approximately 6 kg of CO₂ per year – this is symbolically offset by one tree. An average team (10 people, 750,000 tokens per month) generates approximately 5.4 kg of CO₂ per year. This can be offset by one tree per year. OK – depending on the intensity of AI use, a single employee may generate this amount in a month, but that depends entirely on your company and its activities, and we’d be happy to discuss it.

The important thing is this: for a flat rate of just one euro net per tree, you’re not only ensuring that our GreenAdz forest in Zambia continues to grow – you’re raising awareness and setting a positive example:

Each of our trees sequesters around 6 kg of CO₂ per year. This is equivalent to roughly 5–10 million AI usage tokens – depending on the model. Trees4AI plants one real tree in Zambia for every unit booked. Not as a form of offsetting that simply disappears. But as a visible sign that you do care about the resource consumption caused by your AI usage.

#Trees4AI: From Trees4Leads to AI accountability

With #Trees4Leads, companies have been successfully using our 1-euro trees for years as a marketing incentive – for newsletter sign-ups, referral schemes, reviews or as a sustainable Christmas card.

The ideas are incredibly diverse, and the response has been consistently positive:

Since 2022, the fashion Brand Scandic-Fashion has distanced itself from the widespread practice of producing low-quality items specifically for Black Friday. Instead, during Green November, they plant a tree for every order via GreenAdz.
During the pandemic, KahnEvents planted a tree for every online party box – and has now resumed doing so for in-person events as well.
City Fahrschule has been planting a tree for every passed driving test for years.
And many long-standing customers (see our tree partners and client testimonials page). Other ideas for our trees include reducing returns or incentivising Google reviews.

We have already planted over 135,000 trees. Our insight: people love tangible, honest solutions. A tree for one euro – everyone understands that.

Now our new idea: Trees4AI makes responsibility for AI use visible and tangible.

Examples and ideas on how you could plant trees with Trees4AI:

One tree per year for each team or employee working with AI

Does your company make extensive use of AI? Plant one tree per year for each team or employee as a symbolic gesture – a visible statement of your commitment to the responsible use of technology.

Example: 10 teams = 10 trees = 10 euros net plus VAT.

Make a tree statement for every major AI project

Have you completed a large-scale AI project? Plant trees as a symbolic gesture of compensation and communicate your commitment transparently to the outside world.

Example: 1 major project = 100 trees = 100 euros net plus VAT.

Demonstrate responsibility for AI-generated content

Do you use AI for content creation, image generation or automation? Show your customers that you’re aware of the consequences – with one tree per defined unit (e.g. per 10 million tokens).

As part of your sustainability strategy

Integrate Trees4AI into your CSRD or VSME reporting and demonstrate specifically how you’re taking responsibility for digital resources.

Would you like to take responsibility for your use of AI?

Then take a look at our blog article: ‘From Trees4Leads to Trees4AI: Why I haven’t stopped talking about trees and CO₂ for 10 years’ or, if you’re interested, send us an email at Trees4AI@greenadz.de

How to plant trees to offset your AI usage – it’s really simple:

1. Send an email and take the first step

Simply email us at Trees4AI@greenadz.de to let us know that you’re interested in planting trees – at a cost of €1 net per sapling – as a way of offsetting the resource consumption caused by your AI usage, and in supporting our fantastic project in Zambia. Others have already come up with the idea of visualising one’s own CO₂ consumption from AI use via a calculator (and even planting trees). Here you can get an estimate of roughly how much CO₂ your AI use emits – depending on the model, server location, etc.: AI CO₂ Calculator -> and you can convert the result into one tree for every 6 kg of CO₂.
Depending on what form your initiative takes, you simply need to decide whether you know in advance how many trees you want to plant, or whether you will document – after your initiative or on a regular basis – how many trees have been planted (e.g. the number of teams or staff working with AI, completed AI projects, tokens used, etc.). The calculation is quite simple:

6kg CO₂ = 1 tree in the GreenAdz forest in Zambia

i.e. for example, 100 employees who make intensive use of AI = 100 trees = €100 plus VAT on the invoice amount.

2. We plant

We ensure that this number of new saplings is planted for the project in Zambia. To this end, we commission our partner, the environmental organisation weforest, to carry out the planting. The updated tally will be visible on our interactive tree web map by the following quarter at the latest.

We’d be happy to provide you with inspiration, calculation examples and resources on how you could use Trees4AI for your business.

3. You communicate

You will receive:

A tree sponsorship certificate showing the numbers of your trees and their annual CO₂ emissions offset
An invoice for 1 euro net per tree plus VAT (Minimum order of 50 trees)
Access to the Tree-WebMap for full transparency. Because this is crucial: people want to know where their tree is being planted and have a genuine interest in the project. This transparency is essential and forms the basis for trust.

Use the certificate in your communications. Share your commitment on social media. Include it in your sustainability reports. After all, small ideas can only grow if they get a bit of a boost. They’re not a reason for ‘greenwashing’ – they need to be shared with the world!

Speaking of transparency: our forest in Zambia and Malawi

Interaktive Webmap GreenAdz bei weforest

Unsere interaktive Webmap bei weforest zeigt unseren Wald in Sambia und viele weitere Informationen zum Projekt

We have already planted over 135,000 trees. 

Target: 200,000 trees – with your help.

It’s wonderful that, when asked, “And where do you plant your trees?”, we can show our constantly updated interactive web map. Here in Zambia, we have been planting ‘our’ trees together with Weforest for over 10 years. Incidentally, Weforest is the first partner of the green search engine ECOSIA, our great role model. The “search engine that plants trees” shows just how easy it is to do good whilst going about your daily business. By the way, Ecosia is also the “greenest AI in the world,” delivering “Big Impact” instead of “Big Tech”. And if you’re not already using Ecosia for your searches and LLM-Usage you should start doing so straight away. It’s another step towards planting many new trees on our planet.

Ready to take a stand for the responsible use of AI?

Then send us your idea at: Trees4AI@GreenAdz.de
How could you use Trees4AI in your organisation?

• One tree a year for every AI team?
• As a symbolic gesture for major AI projects?
• As part of your sustainability strategy?
• Or something completely different?

Experience shows that the best ideas just come naturally. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Let’s break the 200,000-tree mark together – and make the use of AI a little more responsible.