CASE STUDY:This month we look at how companies can succeed by making their green credentials central to their company ethos. Irish company Eco Baby did just that when it began producing eco-friendly disposable nappies in 1995

By 1995 the disposable nappy was well and truly established as an integral part of modern parenting. But some people were becoming uneasy about the impact of nappy disposal on the environment.

Among them were husband and wife Pearse Stokes and Renata von Dreusche who had recently returned to Ireland from working abroad and were looking to set up an eco-friendly business.

They subsequently came up with the idea of selling eco-friendly disposable nappies and set up Eco Baby to sell the product by mail order. Today the company has a turnover in excess of €1 million and employs eight people. The couple worked from home for the first four years before pressure of space forced them to move into a commercial premises. Mail order remains the core of their business and the company has four people manning the phones full-time, five days a week.

Eco Baby has grown up a lot since 1995 and has expanded its product range to include baby toiletries, cosmetics and organic baby food. "Our nappy customers started asking us to add products and we listened to them," says Stokes. "For example, parents wanted products suitable for delicate skins or for babies with eczema so we sourced them."

Eco Baby conducts 100 per cent of its business in Ireland. "We tried the UK market briefly, but it was an expensive nightmare if a box went missing, so we stopped," Stokes says.

He points out that while Eco Baby is now thriving, it took some time for the idea to take off. "We had to educate people about our product and stood for years every Saturday at the Dublin Food Co-op market in Pearse Street promoting it," he says. "It was hard going, but we were driven by wanting a business that was sustainable so we were prepared to put in the effort."

Sustaining sales is an everyday challenge for Eco Baby as most of its customers grow up and out of its products. To overcome this, the company imports a range of gluten-free foods for coeliacs whose consumers generally become customers for life. "I'm a coeliac and know first-hand about the pretty awful stuff out there," says Stokes.

"We bring in really good products and once we get a 'convert', they stay with us. Because we 'lose' customers with regularity, we have had to be innovative and taking on the coeliac foods is one example of this," he says.

Eco Baby is a green business through and through. The company is totally committed to eco business practices such as recycling and energy saving and even uses a large tricycle as one of its delivery vehicles.

"People who buy our products are into eco living so they love this touch," Stokes says.