This year marked the 15th anniversary of Port Artur’s tradition of giving a school bag to every first-grader in the city of Pärnu and its surrounding municipalities. This year’s bags, however, were special. In fact, they were made from production scraps from a sewing factory in Pärnu.
“The circular economy is becoming increasingly relevant, and we were looking for a way to give children high-quality bags that are durable and don’t have to be ordered from the other side of the world. We are extremely pleased with the result and are delighted that material that would otherwise have been thrown away has been given a new lease on life and that we were able to collaborate with local businesses,” said Liisa Mägi, marketing manager at Port Artur.
According to Siiri Rae, the head of Digitikand, the company that produced the bags, she is very pleased with such projects. “Seeing every day how many items are produced that leave behind a huge amount of production waste—perfectly good, high-quality material that would otherwise end up in the trash— I’ve made it a personal mission to promote a circular economy mindset so that these materials can be given a new life in some new form.”
The children found a sketchbook, notebooks, and pencils in the bag. All of the school supplies are decorated with an owl, the symbol of wisdom.
According to Mari-Liis Lembitu, the shopping center’s managing director, the idea behind this charitable initiative is to contribute to our local community in Pärnu. “We want to do our part to help prepare first-time students and their parents for the school year, and with this year’s backpacks, we aim to protect the environment and support local businesses.”
This year, 588 children starting school in the city or in its submunicipalities received a gift bag, which was waiting for them in their classroom on the first day of school.
