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
Before you settle into this week’s newsletter, have you visited our Enough Store yet? With carefully curated products from 30+ brands now available across Home, Pantry and Self-Care, it’s never been easier to choose fewer, better things. Every purchase powers change – with 10% funding climate action. Browse BRiMM’s Enough Store now.
Plus, subscribe to this newsletter for free if you haven’t already, to receive new posts, support our work and hear about all the exciting stuff.
This week’s theme is… knowing the maker 🙌
One of the wonderful things about adopting a more planet-positive lifestyle is being able to tell the origin stories of the things you own and use. Because would you rather get complimented on an outfit and say, “Thanks! It was £5 from *insert fast fashion brand here*. I’ve no idea who made it”, or, “Thanks! It was made-to-order especially for me by someone called Pam in a workshop in Scotland that’s powered by renewable energy”. We know which version we prefer.
In fact, for many of us, learning about the potential exploitation of the workers who make our stuff is one of the main drivers for switching up our shopping habits. According to the campaign group Fashion Revolution, 69% of consumers want to know how their clothes were made, and 80% think brands should publish details about the factories that they use. The group began the Who Made My Clothes? campaign following the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 when it became starkly obvious that most consumers – and even some brands – really couldn’t answer that simple question.
By contrast, telling the stories about the people who make their products – as well as where they make them, and how – is a huge part of running a planet-positive brand, and one that most wear like a badge of honour.
Take the knitwear brand HERD for instance, whose product narrative runs through everything they do. They use Bluefaced Leicester wool, bought directly from high welfare British farmers in the North of England, guaranteeing a fair wage. Garments are made from field to fibre within 150 miles of the farms, using organic detergents, plant dyes and water (no nasty chemicals here). To put it very simply, this is about as local as knitwear gets (unless you farm the sheep, shear them, spin the wool and then knit it yourself. But you get the gist). So if you’re wearing a HERD natty knitted bonnet (or jumper) and someone asks you where it’s from, you can reply with an incredibly accurate and detailed answer.
Here at BRiMM, we stock brands with origin stories at their heart, and we love being able to amplify those planet-positive tales in our Journal as well as in this newsletter. Northern Pasta Co., for example, take a similar route to HERD. They use British regeneratively farmed spelt which is milled locally and packed in paper bags (no plastic – yay!). Meanwhile, Citizens of Soil, who source small batches of olive oil directly from a handful of regenerative farmers, were also a no-brainer for us to have as part of the family. You can meet all of their farmers – most of whom are women – on the producers page of their website. And because they use a mechanical (not chemical) process to extract the oil, milling the olives within 24 hours of them being picked, the oil itself is of a superior quality, too.
The way we see it, the more you know about the products we stock, the more you will feel a connection to them on a deeper level than if you just bought them at a regular shop. We hope you’re also more likely to spread the word about them (and us!) to others. Because the more people we can get to support the brands that are making stuff that’s good for the planet, the better off we will all be.
Team up, tune in and let’s turn the tide,
BRiMM x
BRiMM JOURNAL: NEW THIS WEEK
This week we caught up with the founder of BRiMM-stocked brand My Skin Feels, Danielle Clementina Close, who is also a professional psychic medium. The early-stage skincare business caught our eye in so many ways. Firstly the concept: they use upcycled food waste (which is packed with good-for-the-skin antioxidants) in each of their products. The simplicity of their formulations make them a winner for sensitive skins and the packaging is chic, simple and innovative. In this feature, we find out how it all began…
Have you shopped The Enough Store yet?
→ SEE MORE
The BRiMM Life Questionnaire: Conrad Quilty-Harper
Our latest Q&A is with Conrad Quilty-Harper, the journalist, author and co-founder of investigative fashion newsletter and site Dark Luxury. He shares some of his planet-positive secrets, including this gem about his top second-hand find. “It’s a tie between the Sharp word processor with a built-in printer that I found for £5 in a Sevenoaks charity shop and the signed first edition of Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard, which I found on Oxfam’s brilliant online bookshop – which was more expensive.”
Read the full interview over in our Journal now.
FROM THE COLLECTIVE
Next year is going to be a particularly great year for seeing the aurora borealis, and Becky loves the look of this 5-day Northern Lights trip to do just that with B-Corp company Up Norway
Living on the south coast as she does, Hannah is keeping her eyes peeled for one of the many rare glossy ibis that have been flocking here in much larger numbers than usual. These wonderful birds were worshipped in Ancient Egypt, after all
James found this article on the biodiversity benefits of agroforestry in Latin America a fascinating read
We love to hear what our collective is finding. Share your links with us in our Substack chat or send us an email
THIS WEEK’S LINK RECCOS
SABAH RANKS
Sabah have been hand making their traditional slippers and shoes in Turkey and El Paso, Texas, for over a decade. Each pair is made using natural materials and is finished with the initials of the individual who made them written simply in ballpoint pen on the inside of the shoe. You’ll find loads of pictures and information about the makers on their website.
→ SLIP INTO STYLE
DOWN THE ISLE
The beautiful Isle of Mull Hotel and Spa keeps it Gaelic by using ishga products during its beauty treatments. These are made with four types of Hebridean seaweed, which is sustainably harvested from the shores of the nearby(ish) Isle of Lewis. It is then extracted directly into Hebridean spring water using a low temperature extraction process, which protects the beneficial compounds and enzymes.
→ BOOK A STAY
FARM HANDY
The Farm Shop Guide features 165 farm shops in England, Scotland and Wales, including their cafés and restaurants. The book is intended to guide anyone seeking the freshest local farm food, while helping British farmers at the same time. It also includes extra info like PYO (pick-your-own) options, maps, EV charging points and whether or not establishments are dog-friendly. A handy addition to your staycation bag.
→ BUY THE BOOK
SRI LANKAN RED LENTIL DAL
This week’s recipe is a favourite of Insiya Jafferjee, the founder of Shellworks who we interviewed in our Journal last week. “It’s comforting, nourishing and always reminds me of home,’ she says. “Cooked slowly with onions, garlic, ginger, spices and coconut milk, finished with lime juice and fresh coriander, it’s simple but endlessly satisfying.”
→ MAKE ME
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.
If you liked the above, do kindly leave a ❤️ . It will help circulate it more widely. You could even share it with anyone you think might like it. Thank you!