Maybe there is still no such thing as a free lunch, but a new Web site called EcologyFund.com lets users conserve land at no cost. Each time a visitor to the site clicks on a corporate sponsor's advertisement, the sponsor donates half a cent to one of six land-trust projects. The pennies add up: In its first six months, the site has raised enough money to purchase 1,900 acres of land.


The nonprofit Web site supports land-trust projects in the United States, Canada and Latin America, including an international effort to bring the Western thick-billed parrot back to the Southwestern United States. The bird is close to extinction in northern Mexico, but EcologyFund hopes that the preservation of 6,000 acres in Mexico's Sierra Madre will help revive its population.


Jessica Frost of EcologyFund says the group has had no trouble attracting sponsors, since the corporations pay less to the land trusts than they would normally pay for an Internet advertisement. "It's such a low cost, and these corporations will always have a budget for doing good," she says.


For more information, visit www.EcologyFund.com or call Jessica Frost at 734/213-7777.