Why I started Rembolica
My name is Elena, I was born in Barcelona, and after living in various countries for a few years, motherhood led me to move away from the city and reconsider my priorities. From a young age, I’ve been deeply interested in ecology. I still remember when my father took me to see the Greenpeace ship docked in the port of Barcelona, I must have been about 10 years old. It left a profound impact on me, and I felt that my path was headed in that direction.
As the years passed, this interest grew stronger. I am inspired to try to live in greater harmony with the environment. My dream is to live self-sufficiently and be more connected to nature. For now, I aspire to take steps to bring myself closer to that goal.
One of my steps toward a more sustainable life was rethinking how to wrap gifts. After a Three Kings' Day, I was horrified to see the bins filled with wrapping paper that had lived such a short life. How long does it take before someone (especially a child) opens a gift? Not even a minute? That’s when my search for more sustainable wrapping options began: from recycling paper to reusing wrapping (which is difficult when children are involved), and finally, I discovered the Japanese technique of Furoshiki, and I instantly fell in love.
Originally, the Japanese used Furoshiki to store their clothes while accessing public baths, but this tradition evolved. Today, gifts are wrapped using fabrics with different knotting techniques, and the fabric itself is considered part of the gift. This wrapping art resonated with my vision of a more sustainable world.
But I also discovered that the textile industry is one of the most polluting industries on the planet. How can this be made sustainable? After several discarded searches, I remembered the famous three Rs (reduce, recycle, reuse). My initial idea was to use recycled fabric, but that involved high costs. Then it became clear that REUSING was the way forward—transforming existing fabrics into new Furoshiki wraps to reduce the waste we produce.
So, this is my plan: to transform fabrics that no longer have use into Furoshiki-style fabrics for wrapping gifts. After a simple process, they can be used many times.