arithmetic creative

A few weeks ago, I was in NYC accepting a Dieline Sustainability Award.

I’ve been meaning to write about it, but the truth is, in this creative journey, every step forward unlocks a history, and some histories need more time to process. The award was never really the story.

For over 15 years, I’ve been researching sustainable materials, funding my own sourcing research, and asking what packaging becomes after we stop needing it — and whose future that affects.

There are resources and conversations now. Fifteen years ago, I was laughed at by package salesmen in business suits and sidelined for suggesting we didn’t need to use plastic.

Disrespect glues itself to you.

Then I got sick. A decade-long health journey changed the trajectory of my life and my work. It led me to start turning over every stone I could find, searching for where toxicity lives and how design might become part of the solution.

The questions I’ve been asking as a designer have always been deeply personal.

This project, created alongside my friend Dean of EVER AMID, brought many of those threads together: a compostable bagasse shell made from agricultural waste and a handcrafted porcelain vessel designed to remain.

We were deeply honoured to receive a Plastic Free Award for the work.

What feels most meaningful is the visibility placed on ideas that often get lost in the noise: female founders, material innovation, plastic reduction, craftsmanship, and slower, more intentional ways of making.

Some things take years before they can be seen.

The award made something visible.

Not just the project.

The years behind it.

— Margherita