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21st Jun 2019
Kevin Garcia came up with the idea for his stationery label, Karst, while on a summer holiday in Taiwan. He’d recently quit his medical science degree, made the leap to become what he calls a “solo-preneur” and was travelling through East Asia when he came across stone paper. “It was during my travels that I discovered stone paper technology, which was primarily used at the time for food packaging purposes, because of its waterproof property,” he shares. Garcia admits he was always interested in “life-hacking stuff” so all he could think of was the sheer number of uses for the technology. “I was amazed. The initial idea I had for replacing regular paper with stone paper wore a hole into my brain, and there wasn’t anyone in that space yet so I decided to take an even deeper plunge into entrepreneurship.”
Garcia decided to throw everything into creating an eco-friendly stationery label, called Karst, which he’s now grown into a viable business. “For me, supporting the environment, putting in the extra work to recycle, and supporting sustainable businesses have always resonated with my values,” he says. “It just makes sense to me to reuse, recycle and conserve because it’s less work and harm in the end. On the other hand, I knew my business needed to have a very distinct visual and stylistic identity, from a branding point of view. These two come together to make sure that Karst is inspiring, productive, earth-friendly, and beautiful.” Here, we quizzed Kevin on how he did it, what we need to know about stone paper and what’s next for the brand.
What are the benefits of stone paper versus more traditional paper made from wood pulp?
“The notebooks are waterproof, durable, smoother, and naturally whiter than regular paper. Chefs, divers, painters, mechanics have loved that our products are so much more durable than regular paper. As far as resources go, we make our stone paper from waste—we’re not mining for rocks to make our paper. So firstly, we’re converting waste into useable, productive products. And in addition to that, stone paper saves trees, thousands of gallons of water, doesn’t require acids or bleaches for its bright white colour, and our carbon footprint is 60 percent less.”
Aside from the fact that the paper itself is more eco-friendly, what other processes do you use in your business to adhere to this mantra of sustainability?
“We use climate compensated shipping in Australia and plant a tree for every online order. I also make sure that the people we hire within our company hold the same values about the environment. We don’t even have a garbage bin in our office, just a recycling bin! For our current product line and all products to come, we will make sure we source our materials from the most environmentally friendly, sustainable sources possible. If we make metal products, it will be sourced from recycled material like our notebooks. If we produce leather products, they will use vegetable dyes, not the easier but more harmful chrome option. When we begin the design process for new products we start with the material as the primary inspiration. If we can’t get the best possible materials, then we won’t go forward with a project.”
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Tell me about how you decided on the name for the brand.
“I am by no means a geologist, but when I decided on the name of the brand and the colours as well, I wanted everything to be inspired by nature without being too cheesy or too far of a reach. I began researching about geology and I learned about ‘karst’, a type of topography that results from the dissolution of limestone when in contact with water over long periods of time. The name’s relationship with water and stone kind of mirrors the benefits of stone paper. It saves thousands of gallons of water from waste and uses one of the most abundant natural resources on the planet. And it was one syllable and five letters, so that helps!”
Where are you stocked?
“Since the launch of Karst, we have prioritised selling our goods online via our site at karststonepaper.com! However, this year we are moving quickly into the retail space to position ourselves across many stores globally. We are stocked in a number of stores locally in Australia already, including our close partners at Milligram in Victoria.”
What was your background before launching Karst and what were some of the challenges of launching your business?
“After studying medical sciences, at Sydney University for six years I moved into a medical device consulting career prior to taking on my entrepreneur journey. Taking the leap from a stable career to the unknown business world was one of the most thrilling yet daunting experiences to date. As far as challenges go, starting out as a solo-preneur required me to control and master every aspect of the business. That was a challenge in itself. But what this means is that I grew accustomed to micromanaging every part of the business. Now that I can’t do that anymore, being hands-off and putting trust into the people I work with has been a personal struggle as a business owner. But if you hire the right people and hire people you trust, then everything can fall into place because you free up space in your own mind to help grow the business.”
What’s next for Karst?
“We’re going to be rapidly expanding our existing range of notebooks and journals in June/July. Additionally, we have just opened up our third warehouse in the Netherlands which allows us to expand into Europe and extend our growing stockist list. The Karst mantra is to “do more, create more–responsibly.” This phrase encapsulates the vision I have for Karst and doesn’t necessarily limit us to just producing stationery items. So later this year, we will be releasing a broader range of workplace products. We only provide products that we ourselves have always wanted and never been able to find. So I’m super excited to bring these to the Karst community because they will contain little touches and details that will bring a smile to your face when you notice them.”