Our mission is to enable people to create a stylish, sustainable lifestyle in balance with nature.
Our story begins over 20 years ago when our founder, Lucy Johnson, worked as a television journalist for the BBC and ITN covering politics and the environment. It was interviews that she did then with climate scientists that made her realise that the planet had a serious problem - one that would have implications for every single one of us who lived on it over the coming decades.
In 2006, she launched the original Green Salon, a monthly networking event in central London, bringing together a new breed of eco-entrepreneurs with investors who saw in climate change a growing opportunity for new business ventures and a way of putting their money to good use.
Roll forward a decade to 2018, the year the UN brought out its landmark climate report saying that the world was not moving fast enough to keep emissions within a reasonably safe zone. Lucy realised that we needed all-hands on deck to turn the tide, from corporations to governments to each and every one of us who has a stake in a stable planet.
And so in 2021 the idea of Green Salon Sustainable Lifestyle Consultancy was born.
We believe that planetary regeneration begins in our homes and habits and we guide you to the companies and brands that can make that happen. Over the past few years, those of us involved in Green Salon have been on the sustainability journey ourselves. We have spent countless hours researching the best, most stylish, and convenient sustainable products in all areas of our lives.
From refillable mascara, to e-bikes, to gorgeous glass storage jars that we fill from refillable online food stores, to sustainable clothes shopping, to train journeys around Europe, our lives have become prettier, healthier and happier.
We are in less of a rush, we bike more, we are bombarded with fewer synthetic chemicals, we use less plastic, and we emit less carbon. We are all on a journey: we do not strive for perfection, knowing that is a futile endeavour. But we have all become happier knowing that we are doing our bit.
“The environment we live in is the environment we create, the environment we build through our behaviour and the environment that will be our future.”
— James Sproule
Our pledge
Green Salon is proud to be partnered with TreeSisters, a tropical reforestation programme that over the last decade has planted more than 27 million trees.
We give 5% of sales from the Green Salon Directory to TreeSisters via Work for Good and our goal is to plant 10,000 trees by 2025.
Why Trees, Why Now? To create a regenerative future, we need to replace deforestation with a reforestation revolution.
Trees are beautiful and majestic, and they offer humanity one of its most crucial life support ecosystems. While we figure out how to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, the forests of our world are drawing it down into their roots, branches, boughs and leaves. They are invaluable in helping to cool us down.
TreeSisters is reforesting major ecosystems in the tropics, in places like Madagascar, India, and Mozambique, where trees store 30% more carbon dioxide.
Their work not only helps to restore natural forest ecosystems using indigenous species, but fosters local knowledge and skills and empowers local women.
“We are about to witness the single greatest consumer driven, values-based transformation of business ever seen. A new norm of social and ecological awareness, care and regeneration embedded into everything in order to fulfil a public need to become part of the solution.”
- Clare Dubois, Founder & CEO, TreeSisters
MEET OUR TEAM
Lucy Johnson
Founder and Green Coach
I have been passionate about nature for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the Essex countryside with a vegetable garden, lots of animals, and a washing line. For 16 years, I covered foreign affairs, politics and the environment for the BBC and ITN. I have an MA in psychotherapy and have been in private practice for the past 10 years, specialising in eco-anxiety and eco-therapy. I’m a member of the Climate Psychology Alliance and have a monthly column, The Green Coach, in HELLO! magazine.
During the pandemic, I studied for a Certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School before setting up Green Salon. I give regular talks on greening your life and your mindset and am a Patron of the UK Climate Lobby. I am also an optimist: I see how as we’re understanding we have the power to heal the planet, we’re using that power to make our own lives happier and healthier.
Rosanna Peel
Sustainable Stylist
I have worked as a Personal Shopper for over 15 years, helping to style women so they look, and feel, their best. Previously, I worked at Chanel and then at Aurelia luxury fashion PR agency. I now help edit bursting wardrobes which often seem to result in nothing to wear, transforming them into carefully curated collections of clothes which bring real joy and a sense of ease, so getting dressed every day becomes a pleasure.
At the heart of my work is a thoughtfulness towards making the clothes in your cupboard work harder through repairing, altering, restyling and recycling. By really understanding what clothes suit you and why, I encourage careful buying of clothes which will last for years: buying less and buying better. Fast fashion has always been an anathema to me as personal style is sustainable and for the long term.
I have studied fashion and sustainability with Future Learn, in association with Kering and the London College of Fashion and can help you choose brands which have green credentials in line with the Green Salon Sustainability Criteria and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Looking fabulous and doing our best for the planet has never been more achievable.
Polly MacCarthy
Growth & Innovation
Until 2022, I spent my career in the corporate world - most recently with Sainsbury's where I was for 11 years - focused on helping brands, across all sectors, forge long-term, strategic and win/win commercial partnerships. I had my lightbulb moment when I realised that there was a lot I could do to create partnerships where the end goal was less about the pound sign and more about empowering brands to be a force for good in the collective fight for a more sustainable world.
There followed my year with Cambridge University, cutting my teeth in sustainability management and circularity strategy; culminating in my joining Green Salon at the start of 2023. I am passionate about sustainability and gently influencing others to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.
I am now leading the charge with Lucy to advise brands on how they can do the same; why it's so critical to their strategy and their customers; and why there should never be a trade-off between profit and our planet; both can be achieved, and with great success.
Char Middleton
Social Media Manager
& Designer
While I’m not Green Salon-ing, I’m freelancing for like-minded brands. I love being creative, whether that’s creating or coming up with ideas for the stories, our reels or marketing content. Another thing about me, I love admin. I couldn’t be happier colour-coding & organising spreadsheets for days.
Surprisingly to everyone, including myself, I ended up falling in love with content creation and I’m now the Social Media Manager & Designer. I’m also a (part-time) vegan, who loves art, reading and finding second-hand treasures.
Georgia Salczynska
Analyst
Georgia has significant experience in analysing sustainable brands and was part of the global team creating Lovebrook & Green’s assessment criteria for purpose-led brands.
She supports Lovebrook & Green brands in ensuring they are compliant with the Competition and Market Authorities’ Green Claims Code.
Immy Maile
Junior Research Analyst & Affiliate Manager
As a Biochemistry student at the University of Birmingham, I’ve learnt lots about the influence we have over the environment and how we are directly affected by our surroundings. This inspired my passion for sustainability and led me to Green Salon.
As the Affiliate Manager, and go-to tech person, I’m always learning new things and putting my analytical skills to the test. I’ve loved working with brands that are doing amazing work at the forefront of the sustainability movement.
“We can now destroy or we can cherish – the choice is ours.”
— Sir David Attenborough