Jesmond residents could soon have eco-friendly cleaning products delivered straight to their door via electric cars, according to local businesswoman Maria Harland.

Her business, Theresa Green (named after her great grandmother), currently offers house cleans, using only eco-friendly and toxin-free cleaning products. However, Harland has big ambitions for the future of the company.

She wants to promote the usage of these eco-friendly products and provide them in a way that reduces waste, whether that be having them available in zero-waste stores or by having electric cars drive to your house and provide a refill.

The hope is that people will try these products and find them to be as effective as the products they usually buy.

“People are slowly opening up to the fact that we have a planet and are destroying it,” Harland told JesmondLocal. “The oceans are full of plastic. I walked on the beach and I collected so much plastic it was unbelievable. It had all just washed up.”

Jesmond has become a hub for green businesses in Newcastle.

The zero-waste Something Good shop (which replaces eco-damaging plastic packaging with natural, sustainable materials) is accompnied by an increasing availability of vegetarian and vegan foods in local restaurants. It’s also home to local environmentalist initiatives.

Harland lived in Jesmond for most of her adult life, before leaving to open her own plant-based restaurant. The area has a local connection to her and she believes that the people are open to trying new ways to conserve the environment.

The public are starting to care more and more about eco-friendliness, due to prominent documentaries from the likes of David Attenborough and the activism of young activist Greta Thunberg.

A 2020 YouGov poll found that 67% of British people want the UK to aim to be the leading nation in combatting the climate crisis – meaning that ambitious project like Maria’s are likely to become more frequent in coming years.