From Skopje to Shlegovo: Crafting Jewelry from Recycled Plastic

The team at Kajak.mk is dedicated to women heroes who do small things of great significance for the development of tourism in Macedonia. However, beyond their direct or indirect connection to tourism, these women are a huge source of motivation for all the young people who are considering whether to turn their own hobby into a business that will bring them additional income.

The story of Elena Arsovska is powerful. A native of Shlegovo who realized that life in Skopje wasn’t for her and moved back to her hometown of Shlegovo (Kratovo), where she could be closer to nature and spend most of her day in the garden.

For those who haven’t heard of Shlegovo, this rural tranquillity is located in the vicinity of Kratovo, surrounded by meadows and mountains. Here, Elena says that no one is in a hurry to get anywhere and that everyone has more time for themselves, for their family, and for work.

Фото:Petrovskyz (Google)

After deciding to continue her life story in the village, she actively dedicated herself to developing her own business, which is making various types of jewelry.

Regarding Kajak, she says that she has been working in this profession for a long time, but in addition to jewelry, she also creates souvenirs, decorative items, icons, and artistic paintings. She makes the products in the village and promotes them on social media.

Фото: Petrovskyz (Google)

"My beginnings with jewelry go way back. When I was little, I loved to take apart my mom's and grandmother's old necklaces and make new ones from them. As I grew older, I wanted to be more unique than the others, so I started making unique jewelry for myself. I started all of this 17 years ago, when I was a young girl. I often used various stones, shells, seeds, feathers, parts of plants, and stuffed insects, but I frequently faced a shortage of materials," says Elena.

Over time, and with the lack of materials, she began to think about how to recycle empty plastic bottles and turn them into beads. The turquoise color of the bottles caught her attention and became the key moment for her to create the first bead and use it in jewelry for her personal use.

The story with the plastic beads was not well received by people at the time. This all happened 17 years ago, and as Elena remembers, environmental awareness was at a much lower level than it is today. For this reason, people were not interested in buying jewelry with beads made from plastic bottles.

Elena says that she never thought she would become an eco-activist and fight to raise awareness among citizens. But upon returning to the village and discovering the illegal dumpsites near the riverbeds, it sparked anger in her and motivated her to take initiatives to address the issue. She says that her rebellion against the waste led to new containers being placed in the village.

Today, she feels proud of the fact that she is helping to develop environmental awareness. She herself says that she still considers herself a polluter, but this helps her to be more mindful of the environment.

It is important to note that each bead is handmade, one by one. In the production process, no machines or molds are used, which Elena claims gives each piece of jewelry its own uniqueness. The beads resemble stones and carry a very important message: Everyone can be an environmentally responsible person if they want to and if they make an effort.

Elena's products can be found on the Facebook page "Art Cycle Of Recycle," and they will soon be added to the Kajak.mk store.