How do you get customers to change long-standing habits—like buying single-use cleaning products—and make it stick? For VivaGreen, a proud Guaranteed Irish member, the answer lay in combining smart product design, genuine sustainability, and practical incentives. By offering a refillable, plant-based alternative to everyday cleaning products, the company didn’t just reduce plastic waste—it reshaped how people shop. The result? A successful, scalable circular economy model that’s good for the planet, resonates with consumers, and drives business growth.
This case study—part of the Guaranteed Irish Sustainability Roadmap—shows how adapting your product to meet evolving customer values can deliver real environmental impact, build consumer trust, and strengthen your brand in a competitive market.
Company Introduction
VivaGreen is an award-winning Irish company based in Deansgrange Business Park, Co. Dublin. Founded in 1998 by brothers Russell and Garrett Walsh, VivaGreen draws on the founders' engineering backgrounds to design and deliver innovative, sustainable alternatives to everyday products. A world leader in biodegradable, chemical-free, plastic-free, and recycled products, VivaGreen is committed to creating environmentally friendly solutions for both home and commercial use.
As a longstanding member of Guaranteed Irish, VivaGreen champions local employment, quality, and sustainability. It has developed trusted, planet-friendly product ranges such as GreenStake, GreenSax, MossOff, and Tru Eco. Its Tru Eco range of refillable household cleaning products—and more recently its personal care line—is available nationwide, including in SuperValu stores.
Sustainability Solution
VivaGreen was founded with a singular purpose: to find sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. With over 25 years of innovation behind them, the team has consistently approached sustainability through a problem-solving lens—rethinking everyday products and turning waste into valuable resources.
The company’s commitment to circularity is most evident in its Tru Eco product line. This refillable range of household cleaning products was developed to tackle the dual problem of plastic pollution and harmful chemical use in homes. Built on a circular economy model, the Tru Eco range replaces conventional, single-use plastic cleaning products with plant-based, refillable and recyclable alternatives—each bottle made from 100% recycled plastic. This initiative alone has prevented over 500,000 bottles from going to landfill since launch.
The Tru Eco range launched in October 2020 and has since expanded to include washing-up liquid, laundry detergent, fabric softener, all-purpose cleaner, and now a body care line. All products are vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, biodegradable, and septic tank safe.
Refill stations have been central to this success. SuperValu and eco-stores nationwide now offer refill points—making sustainable choices accessible, affordable, and normalised. By refilling, consumers save money, reduce their carbon footprint, and significantly cut back on plastic use.
Challenges & Solutions
The biggest hurdle faced by VivaGreen was changing customer behaviour around refilling. While awareness of sustainability was growing, getting people to shift from the convenience of single-use products to a refill model required more than good intentions. To address this, VivaGreen introduced a cost-saving incentive, offering lower prices for customers who refilled their bottles—an effective way to drive repeat use and reduce resistance to change.
In parallel, the company invested in the design of branded, easy-to-use refill stations that made the process convenient, accessible, and visually appealing. This combination of financial incentive and thoughtful design helped normalise new behaviours and embed sustainability into the everyday shopping experience.
Another challenge was ensuring the product lived up to its sustainability claims. Under the leadership of Dr Anne Marie Mahon—marine biologist, ecologist, and environmental scientist—Tru Eco was developed with rigorous scientific oversight. This helped to ensure all formulations were truly eco-friendly, naturally derived, and biodegradable.
Impact & Results
VivaGreen’s circular model has delivered measurable environmental benefits. Key results include:
These results show that even modest behavioural shifts—like refilling instead of repurchasing—can create large-scale impact when scaled through mainstream retail partnerships.
This success forms part of VivaGreen’s wider sustainability journey, which includes:
Advice to Other Members
One of the key takeaways from VivaGreen’s experience is the importance of listening to your customer base. Understanding their values, barriers, and motivators allowed VivaGreen to design a solution that was not only environmentally impactful, but also commercially viable.
As Gerry Devine, SuperValu Bantry Store Manager, puts it:
“Sustainability is at the forefront of our business strategy. We see more and more of our customers seeking greener solutions while shopping so we are thrilled to offer a simple refill solution that protects the environment and saves them money. We aim to reduce plastic waste and offer convenient green options for our customers.”
For any business looking to adapt, the combination of thoughtful product design and customer-focused change strategies can drive success—for the business, for customers, and for the planet.
Conclusion
VivaGreen’s journey demonstrates that sustainable innovation and customer behaviour change can go hand-in-hand with commercial success. By offering genuinely eco-friendly alternatives and making it easier—and cheaper—for consumers to make better choices, VivaGreen has created a business model that benefits people, the planet, and the bottom line.
As a proud member of Guaranteed Irish, VivaGreen exemplifies how Irish businesses can lead the way in climate-conscious innovation. Their approach aligns strongly with the goals of the Guaranteed Irish Sustainability Roadmap, proving that practical, scalable solutions are already making a difference in communities across Ireland. For fellow members seeking to start or accelerate their sustainability journey, VivaGreen’s case shows that success begins with listening to your customers—and then designing the change you want to see.