If the history of the Gala has made you think and you also want to help this cause to change the world
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In his poem The pleasure of serving, said the chilean, Gabriela Mistral: “Where there is a tree to be planted, plant it yourself.”
it Seems that the human being has been dedicated to the opposite: “Every two seconds, logging an area of forest as large as a football field, which amounts annually to an area as large as Portugal.”
In the blink of an eye, a forest less.
The data on the catastrophic amount of forests cut down by a second us account Gala Freixá that, with less than 22 years and a lot of passion for the nature, one day he thought: “And why not can I do something to change it?”.
A very crazy 100% organic
“I always wanted to start with something related to nature because it is something that moves me,” says Gala, that before starting university I already knew that I wanted to do in your future job something different. I also knew (and so soon) that would need to find something that you removed to the bowels. Today, just five years later, he directs, together with three other young Sheedo, a start-up 100% organic with an idea, “very mad”: to produce handmade paper from fibers of cotton used in the textile industry that contains seeds in its interior. Paper without trees cut down behind or polluting chemicals; and seeds, local and not genetically modified.
expand photo Pepo Jiménez
After more than 2,000 years since the invention of the paper and more than 500 types, shapes, and textures, by order a paper capable of being re-planted.
The idea did not emerge at once, but came soon. Gala he met the rest of the young founding team (Gonzalo Mestre, Carlos Sandoval, Francisco Solano and Glory Gubianas) in a degree of entrepreneurship with a philosophy of learn by doing. In the working group that formed to create a product they wanted to get away from ideas mostly on technology, as associated with the innovation, to focus on something closer, tangible, and social. The initial idea was a canvas shoes craft but, when you start to investigate, as is often the case, it opened a new path.
The difficulty of being young and that you take seriously
And with the roots, obstacles. For Gala, as for so many young people with whom I have spoken in the last few years, the biggest obstacle has been a certain misunderstanding to his youth. “We couldn’t really find suppliers who believed in our idea; we were children of 19 and 20 years old with an idea too crazy”. Still happens that young people often find themselves with the huge barrier of lack of credibility, not to be taken seriously, to think that their lack of experience was not legitimate to direct (or almost nothing). Hence the profile of the entrepreneur in Spain is still closer to 40 than 20.
expand photo Jordi Torrent, Tailors Paperers, preparing papers Sheedo.
But the vendors came in and shortly after arrived also the place where you create handmade paper: Molí de la Farga of Banyoles, where Jordi and Toni spent decades creating the paper with your hands. “We were children 18 years of age without experience. We had No idea of paper, of printing, of seeds… The only way to work is to surround yourself with experts.” Maybe I lacked experience, but their wealth of intelligence and pragmatism.
to Change the mentality of the companies and the people
The role Sheedo is oriented primarily to companies, to present their materials of communications and marketing in a different way, which, moreover, goes hand in hand a message: we can all give back something good to the nature. All we can sow change. “Sheedo is a way of putting people in touch with nature, to me it has helped me to reconnect with my roots in the field,” explains Gala. For reach, this paper takes root has come to China, and has given to them a few awards.
Within their brand, have also created other products such as wedding cards, birthday, stationery items or kits of plantation. The idea is, precisely, to highlight the important messages deserve the most careful, the paper is more delicate, but that, for everything else, we can look for alternatives that do not involve waste, pollute, cut down trees. Because, do you really need that much paper?
But more than an alternative to the pulp and paper industry, Sheedo is an invitation to think of the small gestures that could improve the environment in which we live. While I listen to Gala I think the amount of gestures that I choose every day to change a model that has proved to go against the environment. Take the public transport instead of by car; ask for local and seasonal products in the grocery store instead of eating fruit on the other side of the world; to think that every plastic container that I open is plastic that ends up in the sea…Understand that I am generating the real revolution that I want to see in the world, and that if you don’t start by my daily choices, nothing will change. “The real impact of Sheedo focuses on raising awareness, enable people to plant that seed of change,” adds Gala.
The great revolution of small gestures
Because, I think again: if the great revolution never comes, do not be like the real revolution is in our small (and large) gestures? Create instead of destroying, take care in place of harm, act in the place of feeling that nothing can change.
“nature does not understand the consumerism, of the here and now that we live in the big city. Nature teaches you patience and respect,” explains Gala. The seeds (they have chamomile and tomato) that arise from the paper do not begin to become plant immediately, of course. There is that to hold water, place some soil, re-watering, care, expect, care, watering, take care. This is also the change, the revolution, learn to take care of.
Imagine that you have now in your hands a piece of this paper Sheedo with tomato seeds inside. You type a message, a wish or a verse loose. If you put water on top, in a few days, these words will be germinating a few timid green shoots that, if you go to the ground, in a few months be able to grow some tomatoes. I find it hard to imagine a gesture more revolutionary than to sprout desires of the earth. What if we tried?
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Content adapted from the video of Gala
00:21
My grandfather had a garden beautiful. I was fascinated to be able to plant a seed that will grow something, and so I could eat, and there was born a little of my passion.
00:37
I Studied a degree which is called Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation, and this grade is based on learning by doing and motivate you to build your own company.
00:48
we Went to Siclicon Valley to an event of start-ups in technology, and were all apps that don’t really have any type of value, and you say: how can it be a nonsense as this receives as much investment, to receive so important? If you really don’t add anything of value to society, is this venture? Do this is to create a change? Because we do not feel anything identified with this.
01:13
it Was there when we started to feel weird, a little strange, because we focus a lot more on the movement of makers, do it yourself, do it with your own hands, create…
01:23
When we got to Spain and we were clear that we wanted to make a product, we started with the idea of sandals. Looking for the original packaging for these espadrilles, we came up with the concept of paper with seeds, with the goal of creating a packaging fully reusable and that had a second life.
01:39
This paper is made with cotton fibres for re-use in the textile industry. Therefore will not we clearcut trees and the magic is that we add the seeds in the composition, which allows to plant it after use and close the cycle of consumption.
01:56
we Call many, many doors of large bins. All over the world telling us not to, until we found the Tailors Papelers that is the small empresita with whom we started this adventure. We did a paper crafter, we add seeds, so we planted, germinated, and then began our production.
02:13
I Guess that is a challenge because in some way you’re going against the grain of any process.
02:20
at The beginning nor ourselves knew that we were going to use. We soon realized that in the world of advertising is generating lots of waste, it is a niche market huge.
02:37
it Is difficult to start something different.
02:43
We have given you the opportunity to more than 500,000 people are planting your first seed, we have changed the mentality of more than 300 companies and we have replaced the role of use and throw by the use and planting.
02:55
The great revolutions start with something simple, a small action as may be planting a seed.
This content has been developed by Yoigo.
