For Donna DeSilva, the hardest thing about running an Earth-friendly retail store is convincing people that they need her products.

She set up Gotta Go Green in Sandys a few months ago, selling organic and environmentally friendly products such as detergents, towels and gardening tools.

“People think that it is more expensive to go green, or they are just used to what they have been using,” Mrs DeSilva said. “One of my challenges has been getting people to see that going green leads to a better, healthier and happier life.”

One of her most popular products is a plant-based laundry soap.

An American study in 2018 found that the majority of the plastic laundry jugs and packaging generated in a year were thrown into a landfill and/or ended up in the ocean.

Some environmentalists say laundry pods are no more environmentally friendly, leaking toxins into the ground. Ironically, the majority of what is in a typical plastic laundry bottle is water.

“We have gotten away from nature,” Mrs DeSilva said. “People do not utilise the power of plants any more.”

Her laundry detergent requires only a few ounces to wash a large load, and clients can bring whatever container they want to fill up on it.

“That helps to reduce plastic pollution,” she said. “We have gotten a really good response from that. Plus, the detergent comes in amazing scents.”

Gotta Go Green is located in the historical Springfield property directly across from the Somerset MarketPlace. The house was built in the 1740s by the Gilbert and Hunt families. An ancient door knocker on the front door of the shop reads “T.I. Gilbert”.

In recent times the location at 29 Somerset Road has been home to a number of different businesses and organisations including a discount store, a nursery school and a library.

Now, people often turn in to the property out of sheer curiosity.

“We did well in December, with many people coming in to find Christmas gifts,” Mrs DeSilva said. “Every day since the new year, I have had new people walking through the door saying they didn’t know this was here. I have had people coming in from St George’s.”

She was confident business would only get better.

“We are going to do a better job of advertising,” she vowed.

Before opening, she and her husband, Stephen DeSilva, spent three months restoring the floors.

“There were large holes in some places,” Mrs DeSilva said. “The last tenant just put rugs over everything to disguise it. Now, we get a lot of positive comments about the flooring.”

Because their space is an old house, there are many rooms. She has reserved one to be a “chill-out space” where people can come and work on their laptops, meet a friend and enjoy a cup of tea or have a sweet treat such as a lemon bar. She wants to rent out other rooms as meeting spaces.

After ten years spent working for the Bermuda Police Service, running Gotta Go Green does not feel like work to Mrs DeSilva.

“We are in such beautiful surroundings in an historic home,” she said.

She has always tried to live a healthy lifestyle.

“People are finally starting to understand and see that if you keep the Earth healthy, they stay healthy,” Mrs DeSilva said. “There is a symbiotic relationship between your health and your surroundings.”

Exploiting the Earth’s resources has become unsustainable, she said.

“My little input is to get some awareness out there that not only are you helping yourself by living green, you are helping the whole island — in turn, the whole planet.”