The Green Salon is the UK’s first sustainable lifestyle consultancy. The brainchild of Lucy Johnson and Rosanna Peel, the Green Salon exists to bring an element of sophistication to the sustainability movement. If you’re wondering if it’s possible to go green at home and stay stylish, Lucy and Rosanna are here to help.
With a background in journalism and psychotherapy, Lucy has seen both sides of the spectrum: driven competitiveness and collaborative alliance. And it’s this unique background that created the lens through which she sees the world.
Moving through the climate crisis
Speaking of the climate crisis, Lucy says: “it’s human nature to encounter change with denial. Why would we immediately change everything we do? We need denial; we need that space to ask important questions, but we tend to get stuck there. My understanding of psychotherapy is that the reason we get stuck in denial is that the next stage is so painful. But if we don’t control the pain, we can’t move through it”.
So when looking for ways to be more sustainable, we need to confront the problems we’re facing in order to move through them.
Lucy has been writing about environmentalism since the 90s when people labeled her an environmentalist. That perhaps explains her refusal to identify with many of the things often associated with the environmentalist movement. The Green Salon’s website says it’s for people wanting to become greener but worried they’ll “be munching mung beans, wearing sandals and never showering again”.
Lucy’s version of sustainability couldn’t be further from that somewhat musty image.
Stylish ways to go green at home
In a Garnier report released earlier this year, 78% of those interviewed said they wanted to live more sustainably. Lucy has been consciously living a low-waste life for some years and she wants to help you evaluate your own footprint. She believes making sustainable swaps will make a huge difference. And she’s done the research so you don’t have to.
If you’re after a new look, Lucy’s colleague, Rosanna, is here to help you address your wardrobe woes. She’ll even accompany you for a day of sustainable shopping.
But you don’t have to purchase a package to make the most of the pair’s work. The Green Salon has worked in conjunction with Get Insight Sustainability Consultancy to bring you the best sustainable companies to help you live an eco-friendly lifestyle.
The directory lists brands that score 75% in their sustainability criteria. They include Neal’s Yard and Georganics: companies that are chic and modern as well as sustainable.
How to live a more sustainable lifestyle
“Climate change is one of the greatest existential threats that humans face,” says Lucy. “In order to galvanise ourselves, we need to get in touch with our feelings and that process never ends. Covid has been a gigantic wake-up call. And when you have a gap like that, it creates a liminal space in which we can start to affect change”.
In many ways, creating a consultancy is the perfect thing for a psychotherapist to do. Lucy understands there will always be an ‘intention-behaviour gap’. You may intend to only buy plastic-free items for a month but falter in the first week. It’s completely normal in the world of psychotherapy because psychotherapists acknowledge we tend to do things habitually. Lucy says part of the route to living more sustainably is creating new habits.
Like many of the strongest voices in sustainability, Lucy is keen to stress that you don’t need to strive for perfection. “You don’t have to live a zero-carbon life,” she says. “Change is scary, so why not make it fun?”
Whether you’re looking for lifestyle coaching, wardrobe assistance or simply some help to go green at home, the Green Salon could help you make your sustainability goals more fun.