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joelix UJB Igor Judith

It’s hard not to notice the ever growing green trend. Urban Jungle Bloggers is a community-driven platform with an interesting concept: a selected topic is given each month and every interested blogger is invited to join in and show their personal vision of green living and green interiors on their own blogs. This is then shared by UJB on their social media and website.

It’s inspiring to see how differently each blogger interprets the same topic. Not only has UJB given green/styling talents a new platform and an opportunity to connect with like-minded people, above all, it stimulates bloggers and readers alike to use (more) plants in their homes, even those who might not otherwise have done so.
A very friendly green revolution, I’d say!

Initiated by friends and bloggers Igor and Judith, this international green community of bloggers is now growing and thriving. Read about their story here and watch their video:

 

 

Judith de Graaff was kind enough to answer a few questions about Urban Jungle Bloggers:

Some blogging platforms/communities are invite only. Why did Urban Jungle Bloggers opt for open submissions/community-driven?

Judith: We strongly believe everyone can learn from everyone. Our community is not about exclusivity, but about sharing. Sharing our love for plants, sharing knowledge and sharing experiences. And with plant lovers from all over the world, the UJB community is rather divers, which makes it always exciting to see what bloggers come up with every month. Some of the Urban Jungle Bloggers are excellent storytellers, others take beautiful photos, some are super creative and come up with very clever DIYs. But even if you think you don’t have a particular talent, it’s all about having fun with your plants. And that’s something everyone can do, right?!

 

joelix UJB workplace

Were you expecting the Urban Jungle Bloggers community to grow so rapidly? And where do you see it heading?

Judith: We started our monthly blog project in September 2013 by simply sharing our own urban jungles. And because plants were (and are!) such a hot topic, we received lots of messages from fellow bloggers that wanted to join the fun. We didn’t expect it to grow into the green community that UJB is now, but we are thrilled! Now that we are in the second year of UJB, Igor and I keep telling each other that UJB is not a baby anymore, but we are in “toddler phase”. We want to keep growing stronger roots as well as fresh new leaves.

joelix UJB baby-succulent

Have you noticed or had any collaborations/friendships growing from Urban Jungle Bloggers?

Judith: Absolutely! It’s one of the most rewarding things that came with our project: bloggers connecting through their mutual love for plants. One of them was with you, Yvonne! I was reading Mel Chesneau’s blog a few months ago and she featured someone from the Netherlands with an interesting wall art collection. I immediately recognised your style and photos. She told me you got to know each other through your UJB participations. It’s a small world! (red.: Judith is referring to this article)

 

Urban Jungle Bloggers hosted a styling event at West Elm in London last October. Are more collaborations coming up?

Judith: For our first styling event at West Elm London we partnered up with at{mine} a new online community for home and design lovers. We brought over 80 baby succulents to give away, that I started growing when we started to plan the event. It was such a relaxed event and our favorite part was (of course!) meeting up with fellow bloggers and friends. Connecting online is a lot of fun, but taking it offline makes these connections so much stronger and real. It’s definitely one of the things that we want to carry on in 2015, maybe in an even greener setting.

 

joelix UJB baby succulents

Anything new and exciting coming up for Urban Jungle Bloggers?

Judith: We just launched our first video together with the Joy of Plants and we are planning several collaborations for the near future. We will be working with brands and small business owners that can bring something new, exciting and green to our community. And as usual, it’s not just about Igor and myself, we want to open up the synergy to our bloggers.

 

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Judith: Thank you Yvonne for being one of our most loyal UJB members! And also for the opportunity to tell you a little bit more about UJB on visual strands!

Thanks again Judith, for taking the time to answer our questions, provide the photos + video and of course for your support!

Featured image and video: © the Joy of Plants
Other photos: © Judith de Graaff