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Do you sometimes feel frustrated by the amount of plastic you end up consuming when buying everyday products like soap, shampoo, or toothpaste—only to throw the empty bottle away after two weeks? It can be incredibly challenging to live sustainably when the market doesn’t always offer green alternatives to essential products. However, some innovative stores are currently trying out a different, greener path. One of them is the Greek online store My Eco Shop.

The founder of My Eco Shop, Katerina Theologou—our guest on the second episode of Green is Easy—explains that the idea behind the store is to make switching to eco-friendly alternatives for everyday hygiene products simple, enjoyable, and accessible. Their online store offers a variety of hard soaps, shampoos, and other eco-friendly items. Katerina emphasizes that “everything, from the materials in our collections to the way we package and ship orders, reflects our commitment to sustainability.” This is achieved by adopting a green mindset throughout the entire production and consumption process. My Eco Shop focuses on selling local products made from sustainable materials, such as locally produced olive oil and other Greek resources. They avoid using any plastic in their packaging and reuse materials wherever possible. Katerina highlights that sustainability must be holistic; every aspect of the product cycle matters, including production, packaging, transportation, product longevity, and waste management. For instance, solid shampoo bars are a better option than liquid shampoos because they use less water, are smaller and lighter (making them more efficient to transport), last twice as long, and are entirely plastic-free. Amazing, right?

Unfortunately, many people are not aware of the existence and perks of these alternative consumption habits, or they feel that their individual actions are too insignificant to make a difference. This is one of the challenges of eco-friendly consumption. As Katerina puts it: “I believe that operating in a green way, and even trying to live a green lifestyle, is a challenge in itself in the world we live in.” There also seems to be a lack of motivation to actually change these habits. It can indeed feel overwhelming to make a complete lifestyle shift all at once. For this reason, Katerina advises to “start by identifying harmful daily habits and then work step by step to replace them. Life is already stressful, and we don’t want to add ten more things to worry about. Slow and steady wins the race—that’s how it should be done.”

On the My Eco Shop website and its social media channels, you can explore their range of eco-friendly products and find valuable tips to help you adopt a greener lifestyle.

Green is easy was co-funded by the European Union and the Greek National Agency "Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation"

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

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