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Smartlygreen.com has been created in the belief that the majority of us actually do care about the environment and of the need to live in balance with the planet but are unsure how to go about this. Smartlygreen.com is intended to provide an easy starting point.

At this stage it is worth commenting that we are just ‘normal’ people who have a genuine concern for what is happening in the world and a desire to do something about it. However for this to happen, we believe the environmental debate has to be moved into the mainstream and be made far more relevant to us all.

Everyday we are hit with an increasing flow of information warning us of the consequences of the growing environmental imbalance. The range of advice on how to tackle it is confusing and ranges from fitting energy saving lightbulbs to something as profound as limiting the number of children we have. The issues are undoubtedly complex and controversial with hard core environmentalists insisting that we should all adopt significant lifestyle changes. As honourable as these assertions are, and as unfortunate as this might seem, the reality of life is that this is unlikely to happen. Not in the short term.

For a start the environmental forecasts for the future are so doom laden that it is difficult for us to see enough of a relationship between installing a CO2 friendly appliance in the home and such things as rising sea levels. Until a meaningful cause and effect relationship is outlined with clarity and relevance then it is unlikely that we will change our lifestyles. At the moment the way that the various ‘green’ messages are evangelised and the methods used to communicate them gives the impression that the problem is too complex and remote. The result is that it is difficult to relate to either the messages or the messengers.

The majority of us are far too concerned with day to day demands such as paying the mortgage, providing for one’s family and generally coping with the normal daily pressures of life. It is against this background that the environmental message struggles to get heard.

Smartlygreen.com was created so that we could all start on that journey to combating Climate Change in such a way that it could be fitted into our way of day to day living. Our relationship with the environmental charity Cool Earth is the start.

The work of Cool Earth is having a major positive affect in the fight against climate change and this will be made even more significant by increased donations raised by people shopping through smartlygreen.com. We are therefore making it is easy for people to make a real contribution to this major issue without making any immediate changes to people's lifestyle.

We must stress however that this is phase one of smartlygreen.com. Over time we will introduce more and more ‘green’ and ethical alternatives to your normal shopping baskets, thereby allowing informed choices to be made. We will attempt to present the arguments in a logical relevant way so that the benefits can easily be seen. We will search for environmentally meaningful alternatives to the sorts of things many of us take for granted.

An understanding of what like minded people are doing in their own lives is also important as it makes us feel that we are not alone in wanting to do something. Consequently we hope to generate a sense of community and have made available a social networking component as part of smartlygreen.com. People can pass on ‘green’ tips to each other and to share experiences. There will also be many other initiatives so please do watch this space.

Basically then we are trying to take the debate into the mainstream so that the issues do stand a chance of featuring in all of our daily lives. We intend to present things in a far more meaningful and relevant way which we don't believe has been the case do far. We fundamentally believe that unless our hearts, minds and imaginations are inspired then change will not happen. Smartlygreen.com was created to help achieve that aim.

Needless to say we welcome all comments and so please feel free to e-mail us.