Their slogan is ‘Drink it, wear it.’
Quite fitting, when you consider that the jewelry the Kelowna high school students are making is from coffee pods.
“A lot of people are surprised that they’re from Nespresso pods,” said Grade 12 student Sara Laudi. “It’s like pretty new, you know pretty weird, but they like it.”
Laudi and two of her classmates made at least 50 pairs of earrings in the last couple of months using the colourful pods.
And they’ve named their company RES Jewels.
The business project is part of their Entrepreneurship 12 class at Rutland Senior Secondary.
An earring made from Nespresso coffee pods.
“I’m really interested in starting a business and I think like, I’m going to study it next year at university,” said Grade 12 student Elisabeth Baert. “It’s good preparation for university.”
The three students are international students. Two are from Italy, and one is from Belgium.
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The idea to make coffee pod jewelry came from Laudi’s grandma in Italy.
“She loved doing creative things and stuff like that,” Laudi said. “So she taught me how to do them.”
The students are happy to creatively use the pods, which would otherwise end up in a recycling facility or a landfill.
“I think it’s really good because it’s upcycling. So basically you transform something that has been used to something even better,” said Grade 12 student Romeo Pizzigati.
But they’re also making a profit and donating half of it to support people in war-ravaged Ukraine.
“Being European … I was really worried about everything,” Laudi said. “So we wanted to try and do something, do something about it.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by the other students as well.
“We’re living our best lives here while others are suffering, so we really wanted to help,” Baert said.
One of their teachers expressed pride, stating the students are learning how to be good corporate citizens.
“A lot of times with entrepreneurship, their focus is on money. But, of course, then you get the thing called corporate social responsibility,” said teacher Tyler Jensen.
“And these kids have become very socially responsible and giving while they’re making their own money and benefiting from it. So it’s sort of a win-win for everybody.”
For more information about the coffee-pod earrings, such as donating the coffee pods or purchasing them, call Rutland Senior Secondary school or visit the group’s Instagram page at res.jewels or Facebook at Res Jewels.