As much as we may try to lead the green life, it’s not always easy to ‘shop green’, particularly living in China. A new Hong Kong-based website is aiming to change all that, putting green fashion in your closet with the click of a mouse.

Dr Christina Lu’s road to becoming an environmental campaigner and founder of green shopping and charity website Green2greener was not exactly a straight one. She began her professional career as a dentist, but a move to Asia prompted her to put away the drill for good.

“I was shocked at the level of awareness about the environment, whilst also witnessing the rapid development here that contributes to worsening climate change,” she says. “Working in the environmental field became so much more important to me than saving teeth, so I had a huge career change and have never looked back.”

“Working in the environmental field became so much more important to me than saving teeth, so I had a huge career change and have never looked back.”

Green2greener is the result of that change in direction. “The idea for Green2greener came from the difficulties that I found in buying eco-friendly products. Green2greener makes it easier for consumers to find environmentally friendly products when they’re not being sold locally,” Lu says.

The website basically works as online store for environmentally friendly products and each sale raises money for environmental charities. The wares for sale include new and used women’s clothing, we particularly liked the totally hot and 100 per cent organic wool Mika Flamingo dress.

There are also purses and daily planners made from recycled materials, books, DVDs, and bottles of organic wine and the funky Barney Cheng custom cufflinks made from old computer keyboards are enough to up the green-trend factor for any outfit.

Although the website has not been in existence long, the idea of a platform that makes environmentally conscious shopping a possibility has already struck a chord with customers.

“Generally, people are very happy to have found our site and the products offered on it that has such a passionate stance towards assisting the environment,” Lu says. “I believe they also like the notion that their purchase helps support charities and that we do not benefit commercially from trading.”

Most of the products listed come from small enterprises and rather than charging them a listing fee, Green2greener asks them instead to nominate a percentage of their sale proceeds to go to charity. The minimum donation is 10 per cent, but some vendors choose to donate the whole lot. When viewing items on the site, you can see next to each listing the exact percentage that will benefit a charity, as well as the cause that the vendor has chosen to aid.

Some of the charities supported by the money raised by Green2greener include WWF, Friends of the Earth, and local Hong Kong projects like St. James’ Settlement and Civic Exchange. Lu says the decision to support these causes in particular was an organic one that sprang from a shared “passion and philosophy.”

“We generally look for small, inspiring projects and we know these organisations very well,” she adds. “We know that our support is so needed and also producing great results.”

There are now plans for the site to expand the range of products and offer more options for consumers with a conscience. “We want to introduce consumers to the many suppliers in developing countries with exciting environmentally friendly products that are ethically produced,” Lu says. “Green2greener will provide a market for these products alongside more established companies' products and give environmentally conscious consumers more choices."

Web: green2greener.com