🌍 Why the rush? How slow travel will get us where we need to be, faster 🐌
+ drinking and eating your way into wellness
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 we get stuck into this week’s topic - and it’s a goodie - here are a few reminders about some exciting BRiMM things:
Our screening of Common Ground, the much-anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed Woody Harrelson-starring Kiss the Ground, followed by a panel discussion is now sold out, but we are keeping a waiting list open to notify you if tickets become available. It’s happening on Wednesday 23 July at London’s Curzon Cinema, Soho, 6.30pm-10pm. Sign up now - we’d love to see you!
Enjoy some exclusive recipes from the brands behind our Pantry Essentials Reset Box. Yum. (more on this below).
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This week’s theme is… slow travel 🐌
Here at BRiMM, we appreciate the need to travel, but we also understand the climate anxiety that creeps up when booking a trip or even just getting in a car. Whether our reason to move is to explore the world, open our minds and appreciate the biodiversity that it is so important to protect or to simply go to the supermarket, the choices we make to get from A to B can make a difference. (Side note: might we recommend one of our Reset Boxes to make the big shop a little easier? They’re filled with joy and ready-to-go).
Since it’s summer holiday season, travelling for fun seems like a good place to start. Slowing it down could be as simple as going on holiday less frequently but staying longer, for example. Taking fewer or no flights is undoubtedly the ideal way to go, and there are sites, like BRiMM-fave Byway, dedicated to booking flight-free trips that do all the hard work for you. Should getting on a plane be the only option, it’s now the norm to travel with hand luggage only, which reduces, albeit slightly, the amount of fuel burnt on the flight (baby steps, it’s true, but better than sitting still).
Something that many are embracing is travelling to their destination by train. International train travel expert, journalist and award-winning author Monisha Rajesh has written a wonderfully romantic piece for our Journal on this very subject – who better could we have enlisted than the author of the books Around India In 80 Trains, Around The World In 80 Trains and upcoming release Moonlight Express: Around the World By Night Train (available to pre-order ahead of next month)? She tells us more about the eight-week journey, 33 train rides and more than 10,000 miles overland that took her from London St Pancras to Bejing in 2015, in lovely lyrical passages like this:
“As we rolled from one hub to the next, I discovered regional cuisines as hawkers hopped on and off selling snacks unique to each state, the railways key to their livelihoods. Soon my guidebook was laid to rest as my companions pointed out glorious, but lesser-known temples, historic salt flats and rare kingfishers, advising on where I should eat, sleep and visit to support their local communities. Many passengers became lifelong friends, and although I hadn’t realised it at the time, I was already embracing the slow travel revolution.”
Now read the full article.
So in a week when the UK government has reintroduced grants for electric cars, maybe we’re heading in the right direction. And when it comes to all types of slow travel, we can’t go quickly enough, because according to the UN, getting on board with better transport choices is one of the fastest ways to address the climate emergency.
After all, the hare didn’t win the race…
Team up, tune in and let’s turn the tide,
BRiMM x
In an increasingly fast-paced and disconnected world, we crave more than ever the need to relax and enjoy our social lives. But while many are turning away from alcohol, is there really a way of achieving that one-drink buzz without any booze? In this exclusive and fascinating feature for BRiMM, brilliant lifestyle journalist and fellow Substacker Kate Spicer explores the rising number of options out there offering a genuine kick, minus the potential personal, social and environmental risks of excessive drinking. She says:
“In a recent experiment with two family members who normally choose not to drink, I shared Professor David Nutt’s Sentia, which enhances the effects of the hormone GABA, which is totally crucial to the effect of relaxation and sociability that we get from alcohol. Certainly in our house, Sentia volubly raised levels of fun, laughter and joy.”
Pantry Essentials Reset Box RECIPE SPECIAL!
If you’ve pre-ordered one of our Pantry Essentials Reset Boxes, they will be arriving with you soon (and if you’ve not ordered one yet, here’s where to find them in our new online shop). Packed with the greatest-tasting ingredients, everything included is grown by brands that matter and has been curated for those following a meat-free, pescatarian or vegan diet. What’s that you say? You’d like some recipe ideas that incorporate these lovely foods? It just so happens that we’ve published a fresh Journal round-up including three delightful meals that are quick and easy to make.
The BRiMM Life Questionnaire: Isabella Charlotta Poppius
This week we spoke to the model and sustainability advocate who’s on a mission to redefine conscious luxury, from fashion and beauty to slow, meaningful travel. Isabella has also curated this week’s playlist – keep scrolling for a listen.
Latest low-impact life reset
”As a skincare addict, I’m really committing to refillable beauty – for example IRÄYE and Noble Panacea are skincare brands that do this very well, without compromising on luxury.”
All-time top second-hand find
”A pair of vintage terracotta-coloured Bally sandals with black piping. I’ve just sent them off to be refurbished by the ever-helpful team at Shoe Spa London in Kings Cross, so I can wear them for another 10 years!”
Most joyful weekend moment
”I’m quietly smug about usually not making any weekend plans. Waking up with no schedule, moving slowly and letting the day unfold is pretty indulgent to me.”
Quote to live by and who said it
“‘You can never be overdressed or overeducated.’ Oscar Wilde.”
Issue you care most about changing
”I’d love to see a shift in the ownership and influence of mainstream media – particularly in the UK and US, where so much of it is still run by a handful of billionaires with very specific interests. Even though digital platforms have changed the landscape, traditional media still holds enormous power: it shapes public perception, influences elections and decides which issues get taken seriously. And if that power sits with a self-serving elite, what hope do topics like climate change, equality or human rights have of being represented fairly?”
The full interview with Isabella will be live on our Journal next week – in the meantime check out our latest full Q&A, with Danielle Clementina Close, founder of My Skin Feels
FROM THE COLLECTIVE
When a love of the sea and veggie patches collide! Matt found this sea gardener whose seaweed boosts beans, broccoli and beyond
This London-based, female-run record recycling and lower impact record-producing plant caught the eye of Shiraz
With wedding season upon us, will climate change make us rethink Champagne? Becky’s loving Ruinart’s new planet-friendly take on bubbly
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
BOUTICO-A-GO-GO
Booking a trip with a positive impact doesn’t mean scrimping on comfort. Boutico’s founder, the author and Condé Nast Traveller’s sustainability editor Juliet Kinsman, has curated a trustworthy list of design-led hotels that don’t cost the Earth, from solar-powered 16th-century stone cottages in Greece to minimalist cabins that overlook the Norwegian fjords. And relax, sloooowly…
→ PLAN A TRIP
THE WATER’S LOVELY
Armed with a team of local experts from around the UK, award-winning author and photographer Daniel Start has just published an updated and expanded edition of the hit book Wild Swimming. It contains a whopping 1,000 beautiful dipping locations in the rivers, lakes and waterfalls of England, Scotland and Wales. Just add recycled swimwear.
→ BUY THE BOOK
A SHOE-IN
Might we point you in the direction of KEEN’s cult UNEEK sandals? This unisex lightweight style is made using just two cords (recycled and PFA-free, naturally), which means they can uniquely accommodate the shape of your foot. Add a trainer-like sole and you’ve got the ultimate in comfort. We’ve even worn ours in the sea, and you can chuck them in the washing machine if they get dirty.
→ CHECK THEM OUT
A SLOW-COOK FEAST
Seemed appropriate to slow down this week’s recipe, which takes even longer if you’re growing your own tomatoes (🖐️). This butter beans with roasted cherry tomatoes dish involves drying out the tomato skins on a low temperature in the oven, which also works in an air fryer, or you could even try popping them in a greenhouse for this stage… The butter beans from our Pantry Essentials Reset Box are perfect for this happy-making meal from Ottolenghi.
→ MAKE ME
MUSIC FOR A SLOW ROMANCE
Isabella (this week’s interviewee, see above) compiled this feel-good ethereal aural journey for you to languish in this Sunday. Enjoy…
MEET: our new newsletter writer
This newsletter was lovingly put together by me, Hannah Rochell. Hi! I’ve been celebrating all things planet-friendly for the last six years by writing exclusively about slow fashion (you can read my own Substack here). I live on the Isle of Wight, where slow travel is non-negotiable, so it was a pleasure for this to be my inaugural issue!
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Really enjoyed this, thank you! Also - love a sustainable shoe solution 🙂
Great way to start Sunday morning. Very interesting read.