First purchases: Greenlight

Every First Purchase takes you through our first time buying from different shops. Get an idea of what to expect before you buy.

Greenlight

Overview

“The actions of every person that strives to live ‘eco-friendlier’ will contribute to a greener, healthier planet. As an individual, it might look like you are making a small contribution, however, if everyone contributes just a little bit, we can make a huge positive impact on our planet. Eco-friendly living, and working, should be a necessity for all.” – Greenlight Co-Founder, Alta Nell.

This company was launched back in 2016 and initially focussed on affordable solar solutions to individuals and businesses. They soon realised that they could offer a more diverse range of products to help homes and businesses reduce their environmental footprint.

Since 2018, they included more product options within health and beauty, plastic replacement products, and outdoor eco-friendly living products.

At the heart of Greenlight is their "desire to make a lasting impact on the health of our planet". They aim to offer "sustainable living solutions that are affordable, easy to implement, and comfortable". They believe that "every person and business jointly carry the responsibility to care for our planet" and are "committed to supporting [their] customers in living a simple, sensible and sustainable life".

“Although there is sadly much to be concerned about or even depressed about, there is also a lot we can do to decrease our impact on the environment, and we can do it in a sensible way. Through Greenlight we hope to address this by helping individuals and businesses to decrease their environmental footprint without impacting the quality of their lives and their budget.” – Greenlight Co-Founder, Richard Viljoen.

Website & socials

Greenlight is located in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, but because of their online presence, they can assist clients across South Africa. Greenlight's online shop is found on their website. Greenlight also offers a free energy audit to estimate your savings from a solar system. This is only for customers in the Cape Town area. You can also follow them on Facebook (@GreenlightLiving) and Instagram (@greenlight_living).

What we instantly appreciated about their website is the "Local is Lekker"-tab. We need to support local businesses as far as possible. Not only because it helps local entrepreneurs put food on the table and creates employment, but it also reduces the environmental footprint of the products we allow in our homes. If you can purchase items made in your immediate area, even better. The less distance an item needs to be transported, the less it contributes to carbon emissions.

The website also offers a price filter to accommodate your budget and a wide range of products from baby and body care to gardening and green energy.

Special deals

If you subscribe to the Greenlight newsletter you will get R100 of your next purchase of R800 or more.

They also indicate on their website when certain items are on sale.

Delivery

You get free delivery for orders over R400 (within the borders of South Africa) and orders below R400 will cost R75 (inclusive of VAT) for delivery within the borders of South Africa.

Greenlight offers countrywide deliveries, door-to-door.

Greenlight will send you an email with tracking details as soon as your order is dispatched. If you pay by EFT it might take longer because your order is only packed once payment reflects in their account.

The average delivery times are as follows:

• Cape Town Area – 2 to 3 working days (we received our package in this timeframe)

• Main Centres – 2 to 5 working days

• Regional Areas – 3 to 7 working days

• Remote Areas – 5 to 10 working days

Packaging

Unfortunately, our package from Greenlight came in a single-use plastic courier bag, but we assume this was a decision made by or policy of the courier company they used. We are sure there are other courier companies that don't dabble in these bags. The box is more than sturdy enough for delivery and does not need an additional bag.

Other than that, the package came in a reusable or recyclable carton box with eco-friendly and reusable filling, and none of the items were packaged in plastic.

Unboxing

Overall impression

Overall we really enjoyed buying from Greenlight and will definitely buy from them again in the future. We agree with their values and appreciate their commitment to local suppliers of sustainable and environmentally-friendly products. Their delivery was on time, easy to track and we're loving all the products we bought from them. You can keep an eye out for reviews of these products soon.