Becoming mothers was the catalyst that propelled friends Gina Geagan and Jo Nash into the expanding world of eco friendly business. The two women, who between them have extensive experience in IT, sales and marketing, found that as working parents they were struggling to find information about where to source fresh local produce and environmentally friendly products in their area.

"That's what prompted our 'light bulb' moment," explains Gina, "and within months GreenMe.ie was launched."

What started out as a virtual farmers market soon evolved into a comprehensive directory for all things green. The website now lists over 8,000 'green' businesses throughout Ireland covering a range of sectors such as food, eco fashion, eco tourism, transport, home & household, renewable energy and sustainable construction.

"We're not only a directory," Jo points out. "GreenMe.ie is an informative, entertaining and sometimes irreverent green lifestyle site. The site has developed a social network as its core identity, with a robust collection of features such as Green Gossip, Green Tips and Podcasts."

Businesses pay GreenMe.ie a registration fee to appear on the site, while members of the public and other business operators can search it free of charge to locate the type of eco friendly business they are looking for. There is also a panel of respected eco experts who write regular blog posts and reviews."In our first three months we had 10,000 hits," says Gina "and the response from both customers and browsers has been fantastic."

Being selected for the Transform programme was a massive boost for GreenMe.ie. "Transform really increased our business confidence," enthuses Gina. "The programme helped us fine tune our presentation skills and taught us the benefits of networking. It also provided an invaluable springboard for our ideas. Most importantly, Transform has given us the belief that we can be the very best in the industry!"

GreenMe.ie has already won two business awards and with expansion into the UK market planned for early 2009, is poised for huge success. "One day soon," says Gina, "we hope to become the TripAdvisor of the green world."