Chinese Search Engine Baidu Plants Trees for Cleaner India

This Diwali, Baidu India initiated a green campaign encouraging people to light lamps (diya) instead of firecrackers to curb air pollution.

#DUItRight was a week-long social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook. This campaign spread awareness about the harmful effects of pollution created by burning crackers during Diwali and encouraged people to celebrate a green Diwali.

Participants were asked to share a picture / video of them lighting a Diya on their social profiles using the hashtag #DUItRight and pledge to celebrate a cracker free Diwali and nominate three other friends to do the same.

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Baidu India had promised to plant a tree for every entry to acknowledge and reward the efforts of the people participating in this initiative. As a result, people from across the country stood up for the cause and participated, taking pledges to not burn crackers and celebrate a pollution free Diwali. The company says the campaign received over 1000 entries supporting the Baidu plantation drive.

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So, Baidu conducted the plantation drive for the #DUItRight campaign on Saturday, December 5, 2015 at Govt. Girls Middle School, Village Ghasera, Nuh (Gurgaon to Nuh Alwar Road).

The tree planting activity witnessed participation from school children who represented their desire for education and the hope for a better future. Baidu India thanked everyone for their participation and for taking a step further for a greener and cleaner India.

Baidu says it has previously advocated other environmental causes in India and worldwide. DU Battery Saver, one of Baidu’s most popular Android apps outside of China, enables smartphone users to conserve electricity by charging their devices less frequently.

According to data from the product developers, DU Battery Saver can cumulatively save over 59,000 KWh of electricity every day across all of its users worldwide, which is equivalent to the amount of power consumed by roughly 20,000 households in India.

In 2014, DU Battery Saver partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to raise awareness of Earth Hour, a grassroots environmental movement organized by WWF.

Baidu, Inc. is a leading Chinese language Internet search provider. In addition to serving individual Internet search users, Baidu provides a platform for businesses to reach potential customers.