After months of anticipation, Colin Firth's ecological destination store Eco has finally opened its doors to the public. Our very own Mr Darcy is luring hippies and stylish green guerillas to the new shop in London.
Fancy tracking down a solar mobile-phone and MP3 charger with the added bonus of bumping into Colin Firth?
It's time to hotfoot down to Chiswick High Road where Firth has finally opened Eco. Whether you are organic-inclined or not, everyone is talking about the plant-covered, four-storey emporium which flogs everything from wind-up radios to solar panels.
Firth, his glamorous Italian wife Livia Giuggioli and her brother Nicola have teamed up with friend and financier Ivo Coulson to launch the shop. But this won't just be any old shop - it will double up as a showroom, consultancy and destination for all things green. Carbon footprints, fossil fuels, climate change and global warming experts will be on hand. Like bees to a honeypot, the ethically aware will be buzzing to this hub of socially responsible enlightenment.
Eco is setting a good example by being entirely self-sufficient. It has its own solar panels and wind turbine, and collects and recycles rain water.
Firth isn't just flirting with the environment. This is his third eco-retail venture; his first two being ethical coffee shops set up to benefit fairtrade growers.
Will he be counting the pennies behind the till? Unfortunately not. "I am the most unlikely shopkeeper," he laughs. Bridget Jones, eat your heart out.
Want to find out more about Mr Darcy's lady in real life? Read our interview with Firth's wife, Livia Giuggioli.
