Why green has never been more stylish

To the passing shopper who is enticed in by these goodies, there is little to indicate that this is a pioneering venture to promote green products - and that is just how owner James Curran wants it.

"We are trying to bring environmental concerns into the heart of the high street, for people who wouldn't come into a specialist green' shop," he says. "We want to stock things that are stylish, modern, functional, fairly priced and are also doing good for the environment. The classic environmental product can be leading-edge fashion but designed in a sustainable way."

Entrading, which has been open for just over two months, is what Curran describes as "the John Lewis of the environmental market", albeit in compact microcosm, offering environmentally friendly solutions to "most of a household's needs".

If he knows a thing or two about the value of buzz phrases in selling a concept, it's not from a background in marketing or retail, but from a long and distinguished career as one of Scotland's leading environmentalists. A meteorologist by training, who has been head of science and head of environmental strategy at the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, the design whiz behind the automatic weather station on the summit of Cairngorm and an adviser to the UK government on climate change, Curran seemed to have tried everything but retail.

That was until last year, when he and his wife, Artemis, decided to jack in their careers and put their savings into a new type of shop. Artemis left her job as an NHS psychologist and Curran his at SEPA last September. In February, they opened the doors of Entrading.

Curran has long feared the impact of climate change. The first paper he wrote on the subject was in 1990: "For years, it was perfectly clear to me that it was being played down," he says. Now, of course, the world is taking notice; Curran himself reviewed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's papers for the UK government. Yet of all the ways he has contributed to tackling climate change, he regards Entrading as the most important.

"Every single one of us has to make choices," he says. "My job at SEPA was trying to stress the urgency of climate change. Advocacy does have a place, but I just began to feel I had to do something because no-one in the retail sector was offering the kind of choices that people need."

It was a bold move for someone with no retail experience, especially with the failure rate for small businesses being what it is. The location is central, parallel with Sauchiehall Street but with a bit less passing trade. "We knew it was going to be a slow, steady climb," says Curran, "and we're optimistic."

On a Tuesday afternoon, the Entrading cafe is relatively quiet and Curran stretches his legs out under the table, looking more laid-back than a man who's changed career at the age of 56 might rightly be expected to be. But, as he acknowledges, he is someone who thrives on trying new things.

This is about as new as it gets: Curran believes Entrading is the first shop of its kind in the UK. Where other shops might stock organic cotton clothing, fair-trade goods or a selection of eco-friendly cleaning products, he has not come across one in the UK, or indeed anywhere else, that aims to provide the most environmental solutions to all a household's needs. For that reason, the Currans had "no-one to learn from". The nearest equivalent is probably the Natural Collection, a web-based business selling green products for the home.

Curran's unique selling point is his profound understanding of the environmental impacts of different processes. The goods stocked by Entrading must meet strict criteria and he has carefully assessed each product line to establish which is the most eco-friendly. This, he says, provides plenty of intellectual stimulation. "It's very demanding, making the best choices," he says.

One of the top concerns was sourcing products as locally as possible, to minimise the impact of transport. "We were disappointed that we couldn't source everything in the UK," he says. "I think there needs to be more manufacture of green goods in the UK."

However, nearly everything comes from Europe. The glassware is Spanish, for instance, and the Whirlpool white goods (chosen for being affordable and highly energy efficient) are made in Italy. Among the Scottish products on sale are recycled cards from a designer in Helensburgh, and furniture made from recycled items. "We're hoping local providers might come to us."

Looking around the shop itself, every aspect of the fixtures and fittings has been carefully considered. Elegant glass tables in the cafe are second-hand, from the National Gallery in London; the shelving, a strikingly modern design consisting of second-hand glass and wire tautly suspended from floor to ceiling, is fully recyclable; the walls are painted with eco-paints; the heating is with a stove which burns sustainable logs from managed forests; the lighting is LED (which uses far less energy than traditional lighting) wherever possible and the floor is natural rubber.

The cafe, meanwhile, is vegetarian and organic - Curran is a meat-eater, but judged that the most environmentally friendly food was organic and vegetarian.

Yet Entrading is not just a pilgrimage destination for the socially aware. "I want it to be the equal of any other shop; I don't want to ghetto-ise it," Curran says. "If these goods are going to take over the market, they've got to be smart, efficient and good-looking."

One long-running concern of environmentalists, of course, is the modern culture of consumerism in which the "need" to redecorate a room or replace a wardrobe full of clothes is dictated not by wear-and-tear but changing fashions. Appealing to the shopping-addicted consumer may help to promote greener choices, but it does not tackle that butterfly mentality.

Curran counters that caring for the environment does not require you to give up on fashion; the days are over when you showed you cared by grimly sporting novelty jumpers just because they had years of wear left in them. Such an approach only ensures that environmental concerns remain a minority pursuit; only by fitting in with people's lifestyles can green living become a mass movement. "You've got to accept that although a product may be built to last, people still want to change things," says Curran. "So environmentally friendly products are the sort of things that can be taken apart and remade." Whether an item is reused, or taken apart and its component parts recycled, "that's the same thing" as far as Curran is concerned.

"To me, it's all about substitution, little steps along the way. If the sort of stuff we sell is substituting for things that do more harm to the environment, that's a good thing."

He is visibly frustrated by environmentalist puritanism of the sort that hinders positive progress on the grounds that a solution is not 100% perfect. "Climate change is so urgent that we have to get the easy ways in now," he says with feeling. Besides, many of the goods on sale are simply meeting utilitarian needs that will never change. At the same time, he believes we should not underestimate the transformative power of extreme weather: our attitudes to shopping may yet change. "A catastrophe like climate change could do that."

• Entrading, 88 West Regent Street, Glasgow. Call 0141 332 2424. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 8.30am-6pm (Thu 8.30am-7.30pm); Sun noon-5pm.

• www.entrading.co.uk
  
  
  

The best buys

Entrading provides for a wide range of household needs including white goods, construction materials, paints, clothing, cosmetics, jewellery, household cleaning products, toys, furniture and gifts. Here are just some of the green goods on offer:

• Plaswood: Low-maintenance, long-lasting building material you can cut, shape and hammer nails into - with no need for preservative. What's it made of? 100% recycled polythene diverted from landfill. Prices start from £10.50 for a 3.1m section.

• Seasalt organic cotton clothing: Funky casual wear that also happens to be environmentally friendly. Women's vest tops start from £13.20. There's also a range of Entrading T-shirts in organic cotton starting from £9.

• Paperpod toys: Kits for making recycled cardboard toys for children, including teepees they can hide inside (£24.80) and detailed forts (£17.80). They come in plain cardboard, ready to be painted or drawn on.

• Made-to-order furniture by Max McMurdo: Chair made from shopping trolley, £285; table incorporating light made from washing machine drum, £185.

Cleaning products: Bio-D (short for biodegradable) and Clearspring are British companies; Ecover is Belgian. A range of products from all three are available.

Lavera cosmetics: No petrochemicals, parabins, artificial flavours, colours or aromas. Typical cost: face cream £7.90.

Whirlpool white goods: Energy Saving Trust-recommended dishwasher £400; washing machine £440.

• H.DUE.O: Italian umbrellas, pictured below, made of recycled plastic, £18.30 each.

For other eco-friendly products, try the Natural Collection online ( www.naturalcollection.com ); also organic food shops and farmers' markets. Supermarkets including Sainsbury's and Tesco sell some environmentally friendly cleaning products, as do the One World Shops in Edinburgh (0131 229 4541) and Glasgow (0141 357 1567).