🌍 How to buy better: food to clothes to kitchens 🛍️
Plus a crinkle-cut fries recipe, noughties chillax playlist and your collective tips of the week
This week's theme is... buy better 🛍️
Well, ‘buy worse’ would be a very tough sell.
Even ‘buy just the same’ is an impossible theme to green-light atm, given the fact we're consuming equivalent to 1.7 times the earth's resources. And did you know, at last check, the production and use of household products and services generates as much as 60 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions?
So, yeah, we have some over-correcting to do.
The good, more fun news? When you don't have the option to repair, upcycle or shop second-hand – as detailed in our recent run of newletters – there is still a way to be better at shopping for new things, too. So that you can still enjoy the full package – that thrill of buying something beautiful and shiny and exciting, while also knowing it’s wreaked less havoc on its journey to get to you.
Think: just-as-stylish, high-quality pieces that have been crafted by caring artisans using regenerative or recycled materials to be more durable – like at Neem London, below.
Or super out-there modular and extensible tech and designs that have led to clothes that grow with you and furniture that moves when you move (both creepy in good ways: see Petit Pli and Somer, also below).
Of course, purely shopping less needs to be a big part of the equation. Take heed from the former spendy Wendies featured in this piece from The Cut, who’ve got their buying habits back under control using a few smart behavioural-hacks. Or Tiffanie Darke, queen of the Rule of 5 ‘new’ items per year campaign, also featured further down.
Now in her own third year of the challenge, Darke's learned "not to buy [wardrobe items] online because you cannot be certain of quality and fit". And there's certainly a lot to be said for supporting local shops and high streets. Perhaps just don't get too hung up on avoiding online spending altogether. The gross impact of virtual versus IRL buying varies widely and depends, like most global-impact maths, on a tonne of factors, as detailed in this handy New York Times Q&A.
It might all seem a bit complicated. A bit mass. A bit overwhelming.
But really, it’s simple. You just need to be conscious and considerate.
So, just carry on being you. Being BRiMM.
Tune in, team up and let's turn the tide.
Team BRiMM
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When low-impact style powerhouse Tiffanie Darke buys an additional piece for her wardrobe – which is rare given her Rule of 5 life code and campaign (sign up to her excellent Substack immediately) – she really makes it count. This joyful 'I’ve Been Shopping!' essay from last March highlights the psychological shopping ‘tests’ she’s cultivated over time, including a two-week cooling off period after seeing something you lust. “It always reveals where the real desire lies,” she says.
Sharp clothing brand Neem London proves that slow fashion can keep up in terms of style, with its chic recycled Italian shirts and ethically sourced Merino wool overshirts. There’s currently a Regenuary sale of timeless pieces – and they rescue your old clothes from landfill, too. For younger trendsetters, look to Petit Pli. This supremely inventive London-born label sells kids’ clothes that actually grow with them, via pioneering material technologies. Watch the mesmerising video at the link to see how they work.
Just launched in September 2024, Frome-based Somer (named after free-spirited Somerset) is the brainchild of experienced British joiner and timber manufacturer William Floyd-Maclean. It specialises in freestanding, modular kitchen cabinets made from carbon-neutral British timber, that can be adapted as you scale up or down – and can even be moved whenever you move home. ‘Buy one kitchen, use it forever,’ says Floyd-Maclean. And if you can’t? Sell it back to Somer, as long as it’s still reasonably usable.
Brilliantly, there are lots of planet-positive foods out there that taste a lot better than those doing more damage. Cases in point? Cravers all-natural hazelnutty snacks and pretty much every item on Natoora, a premium greengrocer that stocks fantastic fresh produce, fish, meat and cheese, while supporting a new food system and the farmers that make it up.
→ SEE MORE
These Gochujang Tofu Fries look so good we’re considering getting a crinkle cutter to accompany our air fryer to make them. Don’t have either? Go to @vegan_punks for many other renegade recipes.
MUSIC FOR CLIMATE OPTIMISTS
Shiraz is a gig-going connoisseur, peaking at 80+ per year while working in New York. And when he’s at home? He whacks on this Shiraz Chill Out mix…
FROM THE COLLECTIVE
Thom’s all over outdoor brand Cotopaxi, which makes its natty bags, clothes and accessories using recycled materials, deadstock and other low-impact materials // Maia is excited about Give Your Best, a pay-it-forward online thrift store which anyone in need can shop for free. Check out how you can donate or sell your clothes, or if you’re in London, head to the lovely pop-up shop in Islington Square at the mo // Matt loves the 1000 Hours Outside project and its refreshing reimagining of time spent in the open air
WHAT’S BRiMM AGAIN?
We’re building a shop, journal and collective to prove that living within limits isn’t living less – and to put the profit to work for the planet.
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Carbon maths
The carbon footprint of an email depends what device you use to open it, but sending you this one used about 3.5g of carbon.