Read on to get to know the ZWDO team a little better as our four Co founders share their personal reflections on 2021, including marriage, moving country, burnouts, and more!
Danielle
Danielle had some big moments in 2021. First getting married, having made zero waste wedding outfits for both her and her husband (see photo), then moving across the country to New York to be closer to her family and finally starting up a zero waste manufacturing facility.
She’s been pouring everything she has into this new manufacturing venture, hoping to show that zero waste manufacturing is viable for the industry. It hasn’t been easy but she’s determined to bring a proof of concept to industry.
We’re so grateful for the work Danielle is doing with Decode alongside her involvement in ZWDO!
You can learn more about Danielle by following @decodecodecode on Instagram.
Mylène
Mylène’s year has had both ups and downs. The challenges of managing most of the administration and finances (which is not an easy task) for ZWDO has been challenging and often draining. At one point in the year she had a burnout and needed some time to heal, so spent some time WOOFing (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms) on a beautiful landscape of rolling hills in France (see image). Being isolated because of Covid also brought its own mental health challenges.
Having our intern Katrin working together with Mylène for three months was invigorating and lifted her spirits quite a lot. It was hard to say goodbye when Katrin ended her time with us. One of Mylène’s highlights of the year was registering ZWDO as a not for profit organisation in France. As challenging as it’s been it’s also been a joy to work with the team and the incredible ZWDO community!
Follow Mylène on Instagram @milan_avjc to stay in touch.
Cass
Cass has had some serious life challenges over the last year. She’s struggled quite a lot with her mental health since completing her masters in 2019 and the pandemic has created new difficulties and anxieties to overcome. With her son living over in the Netherlands for the first half of the year, she spent a lot of time missing him and not knowing when she’d see him next. The pandemic has not been kind to international families! She’s been incredibly grateful for the friendship and support of the ZWDO team and appreciates every opportunity she has to learn from them.
The plans she made to get her business The Stitchery up and running again were thwarted by the pandemic but thankfully with Covid under control in the UK during the Autumn and early Winter this year she managed to start teaching classes again. Teaching and making brings her life and joy so this has helped lift her spirits and improve her mental health. And in August her son August (the child not the month) moved home so she’s enjoying lots of cuddles!
She also completed a course at Dumfries House last summer where she learned about ‘Batch Production Sewing Methods for Industry’ in order to understand more about how to apply zero waste in the context of industry. She even got the chance to meet Prince Charles at the graduation ceremony!
Follow Cass on Instagram @stitcherystudio to keep up to date with The Stitchery's 2022 classes!
Holly
Holly had some quite big accomplishments this year. In January she completed her PhD titled ‘Zero Waste Systems Thinking, Multimorphic Textile Forms’ at the Swedish School of Textiles. She then spent quite a lot of time applying for new jobs until she found the right fit for her family. Over the summer she moved to Delft in the Netherlands (see image) to start her new job as Assistant Professor in Materialising Futures at TU Delft. You may be surprised to know that she’s been dealing with major imposter syndrome at her new job given all that she’s accomplished.
She’s been working hard at having more of a work/life balance and appreciates that Dutch culture allows for a better balance. Her and her family have been slowly settling into new homes, schools, and places of work.
She is enjoying the city of Delft and looking forward to what 2022 will bring for her research and involvement with ZWDO.
Follow Holly on Instagram @holly__mcquillan to learn what this year has in store for her.
We hope you have enjoyed getting to know the ZWDO Co founders a little better and we can't wait to connect with you at online events, on social media, and perhaps in person in 2022!
- Danielle, Cass, Holly, and Mylène
As a reminder, we run ZWDO on a very small budget and dedicate our own time and money to keep the platform as educational and engaging as possible for as many people as possible. We would be extremely grateful if you are able to support us to contribute to the ongoing development of Zero Waste Design Online.
Thank you for reading and for your ongoing support!
Follow @zwdo_collective on Instagram.