🌍 Meet our planet-positive heroes💪
Plus biodegradable nails, a cry-dance playlist and premium pre-loved kids' clothing
First up, a quick call-out: ahead of the launch of our founder membership (more on that super soon now), we’re gathering pictures of our original supporters – ie, you! – to show to the world that we are a collective at heart, via a photo wall on our soon-to-be-launched site. If you would like to be included, this is your last chance to send over a lovely shot of you, being you (and starring only you, with clothes on) that you're happy for us to use. Ta in advance.
This week’s theme is… our planet-positive heroes💪
Welcome to the first in our irregular but no less heartfelt Heroes series: when we big up people who spend most of their time bigging up other people – by founding and fuelling collectives in all sorts of fields; inspiring and igniting positive change for the planet and our own good, on a grand or growing scale.
Indeed, it’s a tricky thing to get right: a little bit of supportive BRiMM hero worship in a space – the let’s-fight-climate-change-all-together space – that may have been undermined by it in the past. Or still is. As Jon Alexander, author of upbeat, discussion-driving book Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, argues, to paraphrase: “our pervasive culture of individual heroism reinforces existing power structures and hinders collective action – and often excludes marginalized voices and experiences”. (Check out Chapters 3 and 9 of the book here for more on this – then buy it.)
And we agree. It’s all about intention. Our heroes didn’t set out to be heroes, for heroism’s sake. They probably really don’t give a f*** about being on our list (especially Gavin) – unless it leads to more people signing up to make the right sorts of resets. But sometimes it’s nice to fly the flag for those who are constantly putting so much energy into trying to shift our mutual needle. Like standing at the sidelines of a marathon, willing them fresh legs.
Especially amid whispers of ‘greenhushing’ from the likes of JP Morgan (alongside other major banks), which left the Net Zero Banking Alliance on the eve of Trump’s inauguration – yet just a month later published reports insisting how essential it is to “integrate climate considerations into daily decision-making”. Or HSBC, which loudly moved its net-zero target back by 20 years, yet also doubled its investment in the climate transition since 2020 – to $99 billion. Because, in the end, “Businesses that invest in solving the problems will have a better prospect than those that do not” – even if it goes against the current Presidential mood. Or, to put it even more snappily: saving the planet still makes good commercial sense.
So, consider this just a little bit of nurturing greenhowling – or greenhollering perhaps, for those who most definitely deserve a shout out.
Team up, tune in and let’s turn the tide,
Team BRiMM x
p.s. what are your fave plant-based restaurants in the UK, or anywhere? Give them some love by sharing them so we can give your combined tips back to the collective.
P.p.s. do you like this email? Why not forward it to a friend?
The BRiMM life questionnaire
Harriet Murphy, founder of Hotel, Mike, the planet-positive and very beautiful bath and body product company, shares her low-impact living reccos
Second-hand store or market worth a mooch
“If you ever find yourself in Salisbury, Foxtrot Vintage has some real finds.”
Favourite planet-positive products and why
“Purdy and Fig's eco-friendly cleaning products have elevated my household routine – they make cleaning genuinely enjoyable while filling the house with natural, uplifting scents. And Anya Hindmarch's Universal shopping bags are totes you'll hold on to and reuse for years to come.”
Quote to live by and who said it
"’You reap what you sow’ – I think it’s biblical!”
Watch out for the rest of Harriet’s answers on our site, launching soon
Fancy doing our BRiMM life questionnaire yourself? Get in touch
FROM THE COLLECTIVE
Sam noticed this season’s nail colour trends are nature-inspired, with earth tones like mocha mousse replacing traditional springy pastels + also: biodegradable nails
Dan tipped us off about Love Will Save the Day, a “proper magical” cooperative-run radio station and community he’s been tuning into for a while
James spied this free collaborative art/embroidery event next Fri & Sat, celebrating the release of Story mfg’s collab with Asics (with the chance to pick up a pair early)
We love to hear what our collective is finding. Share your links with Becky
JOYCELYN LONGDON
"There is too much bad news to justify complacency. There is too much good news to justify despair.” This is academic and activist Joycelyn Longdon’s personal mantra – a quote borrowed from US scholar Donella Meadows – which neatly shows why we rate her so highly: she’s sparking change from a place of thoughtful positivity. Her University of Cambridge PhD focusses on “the design of justice-led conservation technologies for monitoring biodiversity” in forest communities, to rectify the fact that bioacoustics has become tangled up with racist and discriminatory practices linked to conservation’s colonial past. She was the founder of ClimateInColour too, an online platform and community whose goal was to open-up earth-related topics to a more diverse audience, as well as come at them from a more hopeful angle. Oh – and she’s also an author, occasional DJ, winner of the Emerging Designer London Design Medal, one of British Vogue’s ‘Forces for Change’ and a multiple TEDxtalker. So, yeah, kind of a big deal.
→ SEE MORE
CHRISTABEL REED
There’s a theme that connects both Earthed, a charity that makes learning ‘nature skills’ – from keeping houseplants alive to creating ‘pollinator pit-stops’ for bees to farming regeneratively – accessible to all, and Advaya, a platform that invites you to “radically shift how you see the world and your place within it” via transformative courses. It’s that they both “seek to reconnect us with the very planet we call home as well as our own joyful selves”. Plus, they were founded by the same person, one Christabel Reed – someone who very much believes in the “our collective potential to heal ourselves, each other and our relationship with nature”. Check out this excellent and aptly named podcast, ‘Bringing JOY Back to Nature Restoration with Christabel Reed’, to hear from the lady herself.
GAVIN FERNIE-JONES
Self-called reluctant (Re-Luctant?) leader of Re-Action Collective – as he mentions in the podcast below – Gavin Fernie-Jones’s passion for both the outdoors and the power of communities to drive the change they want propelled him into a co-founder role anyway. After growing up in an outdoor activity centre in the Peaks, Gavin moved to the French Alps to manage chalets, before soon shifting to his own ski-boot fitting business. But the issue of waste and impacts of climate change soon became too painfully apparent to ignore both in his shop and on the slopes, so he set up One Tree at a Time, a self-funded community hub to prolong the use of outdoor equipment through local skills and creativity. This same concept – sharing strengths and ideas for planetary good – then grew into the Re-Action Collective, a group of organisations challenging today’s outdoor gear industry with “circular solutions and community, connection and citizens at heart”, from EcoSki to The Wildish Club to The Little Loop.
→ HEAR MORE
“I founded Byway to make sustainable, multi-stop trips easy, and to help more people discover the joys of slow travel.” There’s the joy word again. Cat Jones was motivated to create pioneering, 100-per-cent, flight-free travel platform Byway in 2020 by a desire to help more people feel that genuine, life-affirming holiday hit – without flying. Slower travel by train, bike or boat instead leads to a richer, longer-lasting thrill, as Cat describes, you “appreciate lesser-known locations, bypass touristy hotspots and feel like [you]'re discovering the world on [your] terms.” Check out the B Corp brand for customised trips, round-the-clock support while you’re on the road/rails/waves, plus off-the-beaten-track destination inspo.
→ SEE MORE
“Mob's yellow dhal recipe has become my go-to comfort dish,” Hotel, Mike’s Harriet shares – also switching us on (probably shamefully late) to Mob, the app “on a mission to instil a love of cooking in everyone”, because of the positive impact it can have on your life.
→ MAKE THIS
MUSIC IN TRIBUTE TO CRYING AND DANCING
Harvey's shared a pic'n'mix assortment of some of his all-time faves, which he describes as “very eclectic, slightly galactic and a 50/50 blend of both moving and weeping"
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.
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