“Making broken glass so beautiful that she can live of it”

This was the headline of the Norwegian newspaper Saltenposten. Article and photo are by Stig Bjørnar Karlsen.

During my summer holiday I was interviewed by the journalist who asked me what inspired me to start my own business within recycled glass.  And truth to be told, it all started with my childhood where I was surrounded by art and craft and sustainability. With my father’s passion for the environment and running his own business, my mother’s eye of beautiful knitting pattern and grandmother’s crochet, I was surrounded by entrepreneurship and creativity. I was also lucky that my school had access to woodworking, ceramics and more. I was taught to look after things, repair and reuse. Teachers at college was also immensely supportive when it came to navigate around future career and without the nudges from my teachers, I might not have had the courage to go for my dream.

Starting your own business takes courage, but also needs a lot of support. I am lucky that here in Wales we have a great network of entrepreneurial support through many business owners, business networks and not at least the Governmental funded Business Wales.  And I am giving back from own experience by offering workshop and inspirations talks to young people in Wales through Big Idea Wales.  

The future generation and sustainable living lays at the heart of all activities, and the driving force is the realisation that the world cannot continue as we do, especially when everything we are producing comes from new virgin materials. We need to focus more on circular economy and sustainable manufacturing, and as consumers we need to be more alert to what we buy.

All my customers love the fact that my products have once been a wine bottle or a window in a building or their home. What make you choose a sustainable product?    

Article and photo are by Stig Bjørnar Karlsen.

Article and photo are by Stig Bjørnar Karlsen.