Homegrown, organic hearthrob

Actor Colin Firth, whose wet shirt clad Mr. D’Arcy made him one of Britain’s hottest male heart throbs, is now an unlikely shop keeper.

Due to open next week in a prime West London location, Eco will be Britain’s first “ecological destination store”, offering “contemporary, artisan-made, ethical, Fairtrade and eco goods,” plus the services of environmental experts to help homeowners make their spaces more energy efficient.

“I’m no eco hero.” he admits. “I’m supporting the shop because I think it’s a good idea. If I’m in a position to say anything, it is because I’m one of the culprits. I’m culpable because I’m a consumer. When you start to think about global warming, Western over-consumption, our energy wastage, it makes you want to improve the negative effects of your complicity in it.” but is a high-priced excercise in further consumption really the right answer?

Currently starring in three major cinema releases, Mr Firth’s popularity is going to be an added bonus for the shops launch. Don’t go there, however, expecting to find him behind either till or coffee machine.

“God, no! I worked in the café when it opened and the coffees I made were probably the worst we ever served.”

Firth will play a major role in luring customers into the shop, together with his partner and brother in law, Nicola Giuggiolis. “We lived a very eco life as children growing up in the Italian countryside” says Nicola. “We didn’t even know that’s what it was.”

“Even 15 years ago, our parents used energy-saving bulbs that took half an hour to emit light. We ate local, organic food. Nothing was thrown away. But that’s just how it was in Italy.”

As well as the eco-products on sale, there will be events and exhibitions of ethical art,
“We want this to be a good place to meet, and enjoy, as well as learn how to improve the planet,” says Nicola. “And to do that it has to be fashionable, to have things for all generations. It can’t be an eco-nutter place or it won’t work.”

The building itself, they hope, will become not only Britain’s first self-sustainable shop, lit by the sun, clad in plants and solar-heated, but a place where people can come and touch, feel and learn. On the roof, there will be solar panels to examine, wind turbines to watch, green-roof insulation systems and garden solar lighting to see.

Inside are all sorts of odd things to fill consumers’ new eco-designed spaces. In one corner sits a simulated office filled with sustainable products, such as a bamboo computer, recycled pencils and a solar mobile-phone and MP3 charger.

There’s a section offering energy-saving kitchen appliances. Another offers DIY stuff, like natural paint and paper. And, on the ground floor, there’s a range of gifts and gadgets: Estonian Christmas decorations for £1.50, eco-friendly Nest cleaning products, hangers recycled from old chairs, £3,000 Hans Wegner chairs crafted from sustainable wood. In the basement will be the consultancy, stocked with samples of eco-flooring, cladding, tiles, radiators and pipes, so, “Rather than spending hours on the net trying to track down a sustainable product from abroad, you can take a look at it here and discuss how to build with it,” Nicola explains.

Eco opens on December 1, at 213 Chiswick High Road, London W4 (www.eco-age.com )