My business is a reflection of my greatest passion: sustainable living. It reflects my values and my hopes for the future, and allows me to be more than I can ever be on my own. I like to think about it as a platform that allows me to share my passion with you and that allows you to support a business that reflects your values. I’ve tried to capture the main philosophy behind my business in the tagline: Live Green, Live Well. Somehow I knew from the start that I wanted to attach a tagline to my business name that told you, my customers, more about what the business stands for. I saw it as an opportunity to tell you „This is why this business exists and this is why I hope you will support it“. But putting my business philosophy into four words wasn’t easy.

My business story

My business story actually starts about a year before I started it. At the time, I was unemployed and decided against it as our situation (mine and that of my husband) was too uncertain and we had nothing to fall back on. I wasn’t prepared to take the risk. However, I put a lot of effort into planning my potential business venture and even thought about a name. I am not very good at coming up with names for things (which you know if you have ever done a pub quiz with me- I’m the last to make a suggestion for the group name). After many ideas, it was my brother in law who came up with Eco Zeena, but as I never started the business, I never decided on the final name.

Fast forward a few months and Eco Zeena was the one idea for a business name I remembered (which meant I must have liked it) and so I went with it. But what about the tagline? I played around with the words, but kept going round in circles. A Winchester-based marketing agency, Think Creative, helped me to visualise my logo and so I thought I would ask them to have a go at the tagline. As a third party, I thought that they might look at it from a different perspective. Whilst they definitely did, I also found ideas that were not so dissimilar from mine, which gave me the confidence that I was on the right track. In the end, our combined ideas created Live Green, Live Well, which represents my business in a nutshell.

Why living green is also about living well

Why Live Green? With my business, I want to encourage people to live a little bit more sustainably – a little bit more green. This means to choose products that are sustainably produced and made to last. Plastic pollution is one of the most visible environmental issues, but by avoiding single-use plastics and choosing reusable alternatives, we can all reduce the amount of plastic that ends up as waste and help solve the problem. Furthermore, plastic is made from petroleum, which means that its environmental impact starts long before we use it.

Why Live Well? Living greener is not only better for the environment, but often also for us. Less plastic and more natural products in our households means we are exposed to fewer chemicals through the products we use. Plenty of veg and some meat provides the foundation of a balanced and healthy diet. Walking wherever we can and leaving the car at home reduces emissions, improves air quality and our fitness. So as it turns out, most actions that tackle climate change do not only benefit the environment but also our health. And above all, knowing that my lifestyle choices don’t harm the environment makes me feel content and happy.

I think it is an important that we have a selfish reason for living more sustainably and don’t just do it for the environment. We depend on the natural world, so that is a pretty good reason for me to look after it, but on a more personal level, I do it do avoid nasty chemicals (in my food, on my skin and in the air at home) and to stay fit and healthy. What is your selfish reason for going green?