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Over the years, multiple ideas lead to the concept of Vita Papyri..

In high school, I started a club called Color the World. This club sent coloring books to less fortunate children. My best friend, Katie and I, would walk around the neighborhood putting fliers on everyone’s door to help donate to our cause. I do not think anything really surfaced from Color the World, but the first seed was planted. During engineering school, I focused on sustainability and renewable energy concepts. I have traveled the world, India, Italy, Nepal, Switzerland, England, and more. Through these travels, opening my eyes to not just the United States bubble, exposing myself to new cultures and ways of life, I came to the realization how much is wasted on a daily basis. It was specifically my Nepal trip that strengthened my curiosity of what more can we do. Nepal does not have any sort of waste program implemented. Trash lined the streets. Paper and plastic filled the rivers. There was no trash can even in eye’s reach. This experience lead to a school research project that even continued on after I graduated.  

Along with my schooling and travels, I have always had a dream of “saving the world.” I understand that is an unrealistic dream to save the whole world, but I realize I can still do my part to continue making steps in that direction. If we all make even just baby steps, as a team, we can save this crazy world we live in. Vita Papyri means “Life of Paper” in Latin. We are using recycled paper to create notebooks, stationary, and all kinds of paper products. We are reusing trash to create something new, giving paper a new life. Creating something out of what people might think is nothing will hopefully minimize our landfill usage as well as broaden the knowledge of reduce, reuse, recycle.

The next aspect of Vita Papyri is a buy one, give one approach. Yearly, I am giving half of my sales, any paper or notebooks sold, to schools in under developed, under privileged areas around the world. Education is so important for the younger generation and generations to come. They are the next leaders of this country and around the globe. We should help to ensure they have the resources to continue teaching and learning from one another. Not everyone has the appropriate funding or means to supply notebooks, paper, or any school supplies necessary to teach our children. I want to do my part, even if it is a very small part, to make the world a better place. Confidently, Vita Papyri will be a stepping stone in recognizing and achieving this goal.

Love,
Korelle