Hello student or other reader, I would like to ask you a question. What do you think is most important in your field of study or in your own work?
Do you find it difficult to think? That’s how I felt, so I’ll tell you my story.
I’m an entrepreneur and I have a clothing and accessory brand MEA, which manufactures clothes and jewelry re-used clothes and textiles. I give new life to materials that can no longer be used as such and end up as waste. I am part of the rotary wheel to the economy, the importance of which I believe to grow in the future.
I have been guided, in education and professional matters, by the feeling that I want to do something good with my activities. I have grown knowing how to do handicrafts, and I enjoyed beautiful things, and visual comfort have been a usual thing for me. However, these things did not seem so important that they alone were enough to motivate the work. I feel that the most important thing in my job is that I can give the unusable material a new life.
I use the English term upcycle for my work. There is no well-established Finnish equivalent to the word, but when you divide the word into “up” and “cycle”, it is understood to mean doing something where the value of the material once used increases as a result of the action. In doing this, values that are important to myself are crystallized: I want the products to be both environmentally friendly and beautiful.
I would like to challenge every student to think about how you could do your own work so that it would produce something good? What has made you interested in your field? Could there be an answer to that question? We can only start a positive change within our own sphere of influence; we cannot decide for others. At times, it may seem small and frustrating, and it has happened to itself. I encourage you to take the opportunity given to you because even small things can grow into big ones.
As the circular economy continues to evolve, we will get new materials to use and new services. We live in a time where hobbies and passions can become work. Occupations will emerge in the future that we do not yet know exist. Your profession changes with the lull and opens up new perspectives. Monitor the environment and people’s behavior, notice changes curiously. See opportunities.
Regards,
Elina Korri
entrepreneur, fashion designer