When you go searching on the Internet, you don’t want garbage. A new search engine has found a way to help you filter through your searches to find eco-friendly results and help the environment as well.TheEcoKey (www.TheEcoKey.com) is the world’s first planet cleaning search engine.

This “Eco-Google” allows users to enjoy the benefits of the powerful Google search with

the added benefit of an “eco-filter”. The Eco-Filter is an added option designed to

enhance Google searches to bring you relevant, green search results. Co-founders Matt

Miller and Jennifer Sinclair developed TheEcoKey to provide Web users with a means

for finding environmentally friendly companies and products more easily, and not by

compromising their normal search activity.

A search for “dish soap” using the Eco-Filtered Search on TheEcoKey delivers results

that are limited to eco-friendly, sustainable dish soap. A search for “school bus” brings up

biodiesel sites and emissions reduction information for busses. Eco-Keying “Obama”

produces a string of results on the President’s green energy policy and the New Energy

for America plan.

“We think that good global citizens deserve to be rewarded so we make their sites easier

to find,” says Sinclair, a California native who also owns The Luxur-Eco, a company that

promotes products made from sustainable bamboo. “Our goal here is to raise eco

awareness. We’ve essentially created a ‘green search lens’.”

Sinclair and Miller added another bonus to TheEcoKey users. They will not only find

green results, but their use of the new search engine will also help to support trash cleanup

across America. They have established a foundation that will use volunteers, and

create paid positions for people to clean up the garbage that has been strewn across the

highways, parks, beaches, and other mini-ecosystems.

The litter doesn’t just impact the roads and beaches. The waste can travel to storm drains,

streams, and creeks. These watersheds feed into lakes, rivers, and oceans. Once the

garbage has invaded the waterways, it becomes a health risk not only to water-dwelling

creatures but also to the humans who rely on clean water. If you consider that an

estimated 1.7 billion pounds of cigarette butts are being trashed outdoors each year, the

problem is certainly becoming an environmental hazard.

Miller and Sinclair have set the bar at one million users in order to make a noticeable

impact. Says Miller, if they can get one million people to set TheEcoKey.com as their

home page, their foundation will be able to remove approximately 900 tons of plastic and

garbage from the ecosystem and will raise awareness with almost four million people.

“We’re not asking people to compromise their Internet searches,” says Miller.

“TheEcoKey is a Google-powered search engine so users are getting the same

comprehensive results. Also, if you decide to use the eco-filter, you’ll get an all around

environmentally responsible result. We think this option reflects our culture’s passion for

making better choices in everything we use, including search engines.”