World’s first “ultra ecological” search engine launches in the UK
 
Ecocho.co.uk, the world’s first free green search engine that offsets
carbon emissions at no cost to the user, launched this week in the UK
and 14 countries across the world.
 
Powered by Google and Yahoo, ecocho.co.uk is an Australian initiative
designed to fight climate change by sponsoring the planting of up to two
trees for every 1000 searches made. Switching to ecocho.co.uk is a
simple step towards saving the environment without sacrificing quality
search results.
 
Founder of ecocho.com, Tim Macdonald said “In the UK alone, people
conduct over 1.5 billion Internet searches a month*. If we can capture
just one per cent of that traffic, we will make a significant
contribution towards lowering the impact of harmful greenhouse gas
emissions.”
 
In Australia, ecocho will purchase carbon-offset credits through the New
South Wales Government Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (GGAS) and KPMG
will check the acquisition, registration and retirement of the carbon
credits.
 
“ecocho.co.uk aims to reinvest 70 per cent of the site’s revenue in
carbon-offset credits and as the site progresses, we’ll begin to support
similar carbon-offsetting schemes in other states and countries,” said
Mr Macdonald.
 
“The search engine is one of the easiest ways people can change their
everyday behaviour to make a positive impact on the environment.”
 
To find out more about the initiative and start offsetting your carbon
emissions, visit www.ecocho.co.uk
 
-Ends-
 
* Data supplied by Nielsen Online, MegaView Search, February 2008
 
Notes to Editors:
 
* Ecocho.com buys carbon-offset credits using money generated
through advertising on the website. Carbon credits are then used to
invest in tree growing initiatives
* The site is powered by both Yahoo and Google technology; the
user can choose their favourite search engine to power ecocho.com
* ecocho.com is a completely free service
* The process of “carbon-offsetting” involves contributing to a
reduction in the amount of damaging carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -
trees qualify as a recognised form of carbon-offsetting
* The name “ecocho” means “Ultra ecological” derived from: “eco”
for ecological and “cho” meaning “extremely” or “ultra” in Japanese.
 
 
About echocho.com
ecocho.com is owned by Yield Media, a subsidiary of Photon Group. The
young core group of staff responsible for the ecocho.com is passionate
about climate change issues and creating behavioural changes that impact
the environment now.
 
For further press information:
Rami Mallis - Frank PR
ramimallis@frankpr.it
020 7693 6999