🌍 Come together 🤝

From car shares to supper clubs, we're exploring the advantages of community-led living

Welcome to BRiMM, the collective, journal and planet-positive shop that’s here to help you live a lower-impact life, without life feeling less

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This week’s theme is… community-led living 🤝
Whatever your thoughts on the film The Thursday Murder Club, if you’ve watched it, you may well have come away with the same takeaway as us: “I want to live somewhere like that”. With its stylish apartments, gorgeous grounds and, crucially, communal indoor areas, the elderly residents all seemed to be having a wonderful time, with not a socially isolated person in sight. In fact, our friend’s parents have just moved to Cotswold Gate – which very much seems like a real-life version of it (murders aside). And that got us thinking – is community-led living a better option, even if you’re not retired?

On a sunny hillside plot between a woodland and a hospital in Bridport, Dorset may well have the answer. Hazelmead, a 53-home cohousing project, is the brainchild of local people who were frustrated with a lack of affordable housing and craved a sense of community. It has taken 17 years to complete, and earlier this month won a prestigious Housing Design Award.

As well as having fantastic planet-positive credentials – including a renewable energy system, group growing and meals and shared electric transport – this way of living encourages more social interaction, which has benefits for all ages, from young families to the elderly. “It’s showing people do want to care about each other, they do crave community, social interaction,” the project’s architect, Sam Goss, told the BBC. “It is possible to achieve better environmental standards when the people themselves who are living in homes design them so they are more aspirational.”

Community housing projects, with modestly-sized private homes and shared spaces that encourage accidental socialising, originated in Denmark. Jystrup Savværk, for example, previously a sawmill, has 21 private residential units in one large building, with 40% communal space, part of which is made up of a glass-covered ‘street’ where residents can eat or play together. Elsewhere in Seoul, Bo-Da has treehouse-style micro apartments with clever details like modular storage and magnetic paint that allows for quick and easy personalisation, all linked to a huge communal glazed atrium planted with large trees.

With its positive effects on mental and physical health, reduced loneliness and the environmental benefits of resource sharing, as well as being a more affordable option, it’s little wonder that the idea is gaining traction here in the UK. New Ground in Barnet, London, is the only senior women’s cohousing project in the country. The 25 flats and shared spaces are run by the women themselves, which allows them to help each other out with tasks like collecting prescriptions from the chemist and doing the shopping. At the other end of the age scale, warehouses all over Hackney and Haringey are being co-opted by 20 and 30-somethings who have been priced out of the traditional housing market.

The food writer Rosie Kellett lives in one with six other people. They share a bank account and take turns to cook, which they’re pretty good at – Rosie hosts a supper club with her housemate, Virginia Malavasi, and her Sunday Times best-selling book, In for Dinner, features 101 affordable and great-tasting recipes that can help to save money, live with a lower environmental impact, reduce waste and share more joy. “There really isn’t anything more appealing to me than sharing a meal with my friends at the end of a long day,” she says. “I honestly don’t think I would still be living in the city if I hadn’t found this way of life.” We like the sound of that.

Team up, tune in and let’s turn the tide,

BRiMM x

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BRiMM JOURNAL: NEW THIS WEEK

We don’t often stop to think about just how many shampoo bottles we go through over a lifetime. But consider this: if you use one bottle of shampoo per month (a conservative estimate), that adds up to, on average, 744 bottles during the years from age 18 to 80. On our Journal this week, our Head of Beauty Sam shares the planet-positive bottles to buy to lower your impact – and improve your locks at the same time.

→ DISCOVER MORE

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NEW! The Enough Store is here
Discover 80+ planet-positive products, across 30+ brands, now available to shop individually at BRiMM. Our curated edit of Home, Pantry and Self-Care items give you convenience and the opportunity to make an impact at the same time. From British single-source honey and Greek extra virgin olive oil refill pouches, to zero-waste face care and biodegradable bin liners, with The Enough Store, it’s easier than ever to shop planet-positive. Plus – everything works brilliantly and looks beautiful to boot.

→ SEE MORE

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The BRiMM Life Questionnaire: Insiya Jafferjee
This week we’re chatting with Insiya Jafferjee, the founder and CEO of Shellworks. This groundbreaking company is developing Vivomer – a new class of natural materials made from waste biomass, created to replace plastic. She cites nature as her planet-positive hero – “It’s the greatest innovator and teacher we have, every solution we need is there if we look closely enough” – and shares her top deodorant, body lotion, podcast and recipe tips, plus loads more.

Read the full interview over on our Journal now.

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FROM THE COLLECTIVE

Sam’s been reading up on the EU’s extended producer responsibility law – less waste and more circularity can only be a good thing

Christabel has just finished her house renovation and is moving onto the garden with ‘How to Design a Garden’ by Pollyanna Wilkinson

If Hannah lived in Sweden, she would be heading to ReTuna Återbruksgalleria, the world’s first recycling shopping mall

We love to hear what our collective is finding. Share your links with us in our Substack chat or send us an email

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THIS WEEK’S LINK RECCOS

COMMUNITY CLOTHING
Founded by Patrick Grant (yes, him off the Sewing Bee), this brand makes exceptional quality everyday clothing (trust us, we wear it) at a fraction of the price of other premium brands. By making 100% of it here in the UK, it sustains and creates jobs, helping to restore local economic prosperity and pride.
→ SHOP GREAT GARMS

SUNNY SIDE UP
Want to generate your own solar power but don’t have the means to do it on your own roof? Community Energy Together is a collaboration of organisations across the UK that has so far brought seven solar farms into community ownership. One of its organisations is currently fundraising – shares are available to buy until mid-November from £250, which could make you money while helping advance clean power.
→ FIND OUT MORE

HOPE FULL
South East Londoners! Eat out or buy groceries at one of the three Good Hope cafés and community hubs in Hither Green and Ladywell. As well as serving excellent food and drink, they are a great tool for young people starting off their work life as they partner with Drumbeat School and ASD Services to provide personalised placements for young people with autism, enabling them to experience the workplace and acquire a range of essential skills.
→ EAT OUT

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SQUASH MAFALDINE CAVOLO NERO GREMOLATA

This speedy recipe for squash pasta, green salsa and crispy garlicky bread crumbs comes from Rosie Kellett’s brilliant Substack, The Late Plate. It’s a divine autumnal dish, ideal if you love squash but hate the messy prep usually involved and, of course, it’s perfect for sharing.

→ MAKE ME

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