Larbert’s Savana Living aims to help customers save the planet

However, Larbert will soon have just such a shop when Savana Living opens for business in the refurbished premises which was formerly home to Libby’s Fashions in Main Street.

The brainchild of former civil servant Samantha Wilson, the business itself – and its very name – was inspired by her children Ava (11) and Anna (10).

“The kids are so excited about it,” said Samantha. “They were the drive behind it – the name Savana comes from myself and the two of them – and I just want to help the planet and reverse the damage we have done as much I can to allow them to have a future.

“It’s a shop for me,” laughed Samantha. “I just wanted to open a shop that I would want to shop in, that sold the kind of things that I would want to buy for the lifestyle I lead – and a nice place for people to drop in and visit.”

A truly Zero Waste business, Savana Living will sell only environmentally friendly, fair trade goods and will even operate a “filling station” where people can come in with their own containers to top up on pasta, rice, grains, herbs and spices, vinegars and oils, as well as household cleaning and bodycare products.

Samantha said: “I got into Zero Waste at the beginning of the year when I was really overworked and stressed at my old job. I think just having the time off my work and just slowing down helped. I was aware of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet series and the scenes of the plastics in our oceans.

“I thought, I need to do something to ease my guilt so I started making a switch in my house.”

The move to a more environmentally friendly approach in the Wilson household soon “grew arms and legs”, spreading to Samantha’s working life and her long held desire to open her own shop.

“I passed by Libby’s twice a day going to and from work. I thought, that shop is definitely empty so I did a check who owned the property and it progressed from there.”

Visit www.savanaliving.co.uk for more information.