Your Sustainability Story: Laura Välik of Eternal Sunshine Jewelry Company

However I decided to keep my small business going, fulfilling custom orders and also working in other areas (writing) in the meanwhile. My ideas about redesign fashion have changed but my faith in sustainable design only grown. Now, after a year-long research and testing period, I have come out with my first pairs of eco-conscious earrings under the name of ETERNAL SUNSHINE. I soon have another eco-conscious project coming out as well. So I’m glad I decided to keep the company!

This inner desire has with time also transformed within me into the desire to participate in creating a sustainable future where we could responsibly co-exist with nature and all other Earth’s life forms. Because that would just be a grown-up thing to do. I think every little project matters in this vision. I’ve seen in my own life how a single conversation could become a catalyst for positive events unfolding several years later!

So it is not merely a cliché that every little thing matters but for me a truth by experience. There was actually a point in my life when I was so surprised to truly realize that not all people have this same inner desire – to do better and go further. It still surprises me in people. I think this inner desire is also my source of inspiration – in the sense that I’m constantly driven to seek out inspiration all around. I’ve found it in everything!

The natural world around us, human mind and relations but perhaps most of all the Cosmos. There is just undeniable magic in existing on a circular rock rushing through space after a fireball, the Sun. And the human mind is now also playing a part in this magical story – astronauts for example. How they are willing to let go of everything and dive into the darkest depths of Cosmos without ever knowing what expects them out there or if they are giving up their very own existence along the way, just to go one step further, to give humanity a possibility to learn and become wiser. This is the kind of mental journey that inspires me! And I think that in discovering new horizons, new ways for the humanity to move forward one project at a time, we could all become radical astronauts!

But I also try to be aware of the fact that very often in our ordinary everyday lives, it is much easier to get uninspired than it is to get inspired. So for me it is very important to keep the focus on being inspired – to seek inspiration and to inspire.

Of course I aim to sell a certain amount of earring pairs too. But it is slow fashion, each pair takes quite an amount of time to make and quality over quantity is my principle. In the future I plan to add new designs and a set of different products related to the same ETERNAL SUNSHINE concept. I would like to develop the concept further too – by dwelling into deep topics such as our inner choices and eco-consciousness. Since being eco-conscious is of uttermost importance, I’m also working on these aspects of the business that could be more greener. For example I`d like to get all next shipments from suppliers in 100% plastic free packaging. I’ve also discovered that ETERNAL SUNSHINE earrings have a more controversial audience than I initially thought, so I’ve become tremendously curious about who exactly are the people who choose such untraditional cosmic earrings! I’m currently thinking of how to exactly collect the feedback and in which way to present it. 

I`m soon coming out with another project which is more inspired by the animal kingdom and aims to shift focus to our connection with nature and other beings on this Earth. In a fully eco-conscious manner of course.

Another thing I hope to do is to write a lot more on the topics related to my projects – as I said, I believe the idea of eco-consciousness is in essence that which needs to be still sold. And the truth be told, I have a lot of ideas. But one step at a time. One project at a time.

Getting creative is also a great strategy! When there isn’t a lot of funding, then that teaches to be very creative. I`ve discovered for example that people who do not believe in good and affordable options, will never see them, even if their right in front of them. Going spontaneously looking for left-over plywood in a yacht craftsmen workshop, looking for natural paints online in Spanish when I still didn’t speak Spanish, spending months to find affordable eco-friendly packaging only to find it on a very random visit to a small paper shop.. There were so many times when I had to restart the whole thinking process and it was psychologically quite difficult. I think it felt as if returning to square one, not having gotten anywhere and simply having wasted a lot of time. But it is not true. Restarting the thinking process with all of the already gained knowledge is still moving forward. And this is precisely the moment one should not give up and continue, if one still believes in the idea. I did still believe in the importance of creating my project as eco-conscious as a I possibly could. Restarting a thought process is in essence part of creativity – a tool for moving forward. While continuing with stuck solutions could be a serious setback.

Find more about Eternal Sunshine here on their website, Facebook, or Instagram.