Written by Saila Seppo, Founder of Greenbutton Ltd
Greenbutton is a bio-innovative company founded in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Greenbutton offers innovative sustainable handmade products for the circular economy. Greenbutton’s main products are jewelry and art products. Greenbutton’s sales model is business to consumers.
Sisucellu jewelry
Our jewelry is sold under the brand name Sisucellu and so far, includes beaded necklaces, beaded bracelets, earrings and double balls elastic ponytail holders. The color rendering is unique and incredibly clear in our jewelry. They look delicious, like candies. People want to eat them. The colors are exceptional, which is due to the new material. Although they look soft and are light, they are solid and strong material.
Jewelry and Art products are handmade from cellulose powder. Cellulose is nature’s organic gold, and all plants contain cellulose. First, we mix cellulose powder with water and colors. The beads are colored with an acrylic color that does not dissolve in water. We dry the wet beads either inside at room temperature or outside in the sunshine. After this, each bead is varnished separately by hand twice. Sisucellu jewelry is ecological.
Beaded necklaces and bracelets come in several colors and different lengths. Some necklaces only string a few beads and may also have a hook for keys. The earrings have several variations in addition to different colors. Earrings can have one or more balls, tassels, leather fringes, etc.
 |  |
Sisu figurines
Sisu figurines or Sisu dolls are small expressive dolls. They are handmade and we won’t know how they look until they dry. That’s why they’re so adorable.
A Sisu doll couple spent an entire summer outdoors, through rain and shine, thunder and lightning; never went inside. In September, when they finally came back in, both were still in good health, although the sun had made the plastic eyes of the small-hatted one turn yellow.
Sisu dolls have faced many other difficult situations. One SISU doll survived being trapped in the fire. A few survived being shot in the head–their eyes flew off, but otherwise they only survived with minor bruises. Sisu dolls have been used to support the cabinet, which was done by combining their forces. Sisu dolls have also fallen from tall trees, but always found a way to land properly. They have stayed alert and carried on as if nothing had happened. Other Sisu dolls have fallen into an aquarium full of fish. The fish, slightly baffled, nibbled at them. When they were taken out of the aquarium and dried, they were none the worse for having been dipped. Sisu dolls have survived even outside in minus 20 degrees only a slightly numb from the cold and eager to go again.
Sisu dolls are made of cellulose, which means they have a close relationship with nature. They can be buried in the ground and will break down over time. Sisu dolls love flowers, and are keen to learn new skills, such as how to use a computer. Sisu dolls’ home is Sisula.
Flowers and other art products
Greenbutton flowers are designed to be both beautiful and hygienic. These flower bouquets are suitable for allergy sufferers. They are made of cellulose and the surfaces are thinly lacquered.
These sustainable flower bouquets are excellent gifts for people you want to make happy. They are very practical for hospital patients, and they do not smell. They do not need water, which makes them practical and hygienic. Greenbutton flowers appear in many colors and species.
Decoration flowers are beautiful and prestige. You can make your own combination of Greenbutton decoration flowers. They can be attached to green sticks or to something else.
Paintings
Expressive paintings arise from emotional and intuitive perspectives and are constructed as if on their own terms. The paintings are made of cellulose.
Books and post cards
Several books written in Finnish and one book in English. Under Glass: a Life with Asperger Syndrome
(ISBN 978-952-68173-0-9). A novel about how to overcome difficult events in life. This story tells about the importance of attitude and makes you to reflect on your own thinking. The book helps the most those who have disabled children. The book is useful for teachers and social workers, as well as students of these subjects.
The novel is available in Chinese and will be published in China soon.
Greenbutton’s cards are popular because they are different from other cards and because they are fun.
Dishes #insulation #heat resistance #kitchen #economical #dishes #light weighted
Greenbutton dishes are designed to be both beautiful and functional. These dishes keep food warm, and these dishes keep food from your fridge cold longer than other brands. Greenbutton dishes have a high heat resistance, even though they are thin.
The dishes themselves are treated inside with barriers suitable for the kitchen. Greenbutton dishes are produced at room temperature. So, they are very ecological dishes. You can drop them without breaking them and clean them with warm soapy water.
Sisusavi molding compound
Greenbutton’s new invention is a unique molding compound called Sisusavi®. Sisusavi’s customers could make their own ceramics or other products. Sisusavi can be used as clay even though it is made entirely of plants and trees. Sisusavi could be made into products with a pottery wheel. No oven is needed, and the products can be painted very easily. We recently wrote a blog about Sisusavi.
Sisusavi is a soft material, so it can be used in hospitals and schools. It is ecological like all Greenbutton products. All products are circular economy products. Sisusavi dries at room temperature and is a very strong material. A thin cup made of Sisusavi could carry a load at least 500 times heavier than its own mass.
Our business strategies
Our business strategy is to grow the company and find new markets. We want to develop industrial products to get more profit.
We are going to publish new books and we have a contract with a Chinese publisher.
Our strategy is to organize art exhibitions in art galleries and our next art exhibition will be in Helsinki in May. Next, some of the paintings will be exhibited at an art exhibition in Berlin.
We sell our products both physically and online. We have our own website with a store that delivers to Finland. We sell internationally on Etsy greenbuttonshop.
We sell our products at book, craft and Christmas fairs. In the future, we could rent a physical store, but it would have to be a perfect location.
All products are handmade, ecological and circular economy products. Our mission is to be close to nature and to recycle and use recycled products.
Founder’s story
How the startup began
Saila Seppo learned that they have invented a microcellulose product at Aalto University. She requested a sample from the professor in 2012. She received samples: powders and wet products. Little by little, she was surprised that the dry balls made of water and cellulose did not disintegrate when they fell on the floor. She asked for more material to continue his experiments.
She wanted to produce digital Christmas cards and so she tried to produce gnomes to photograph them. Making the first gnomes wasn’t easy, but she managed well enough. Then she emailed the cards and got feedback. People liked Christmas cards a lot. It made her continue to develop Sisu figures.
She got permission to present her technology for putting cellulose on paper at the Marimekko company. The main artist studied her works on paper, and she said that they are talented visual art, and she should hold an art exhibition. The art galleries in the center of Helsinki agreed with the artist in Marimekko and her first art exhibition was in 2014.
In 2014, Greenbutton published Saila Seppo’s first book, which was an autobiography about her Aspie son. He later wrote two books of short stories and one of poems.
Saila Seppo is a multi-talented inventor, and she previously invented the UV absorber, which is now used in all daily cosmetics and is considered the best in terms of ecology and safety. She was working at Kemira at the time, and the product was marketed as UV-Titan for industry (a B-B product). Saila has a doctorate in chemistry. In addition to work, she has raised three sons.
What motivated
Saila Seppo grew up in Sastamala town in southwestern Finland. Her parents had a family business and they sold flowers and trees. They had a greenhouse and plenty of flower fields. They sold flowers at the market in Sastamala and in the nearest city, Tampere. Saila started her sales career at the age of ten. She was very successful as a florist. She was good at school and could help her parents a lot.
During her industrial career, she invented UV-Titan, which absorbs UV radiation, and led the product’s development project to the market. She participated in the company’s training course, the idea of which was to teach the participants skills to act as an entrepreneur. She worked as an internal entrepreneur in the company.
Since the invention and the product were a success, she began to wonder what if I had done all this on my own. However, she understood that the company had all the resources, and such an invention would not have survived without a company like Kemira.
She learned a lot as an intrapreneur and has used the knowledge at Greenbutton. She is a curious person, and always wants to learn something new. She has constantly received positive feedback from her friends and colleagues, which motivates her a lot. She has invented a new material for Greenbutton and the material will have many uses.
The challenges the business/market is facing
Our biggest challenge is financing the business. That’s why Saila Seppo is only a side entrepreneur and had a permanent job at the Academy of Finland. On the other hand, it is a problem because a permanent job takes time from the company.
Another challenge is finding the right market segments and finding the customers. How to promote products and how to promote them optimally.
There are challenges all the time: one day the website doesn’t work, and the next day raw materials can’t be found.
Advice to others about business
We encourage anyone with a business idea to start it. It doesn’t have to be that big in the beginning. The important thing is to start. Then, step by step, you learn to build a strategy and other things.
One tip is to always be aware of incomes and outcomes. It is good to find out who your customers are whether they are companies or individuals.
Saila loves to be an entrepreneur, because all days are different and all the time, she learns something new.
Lessons learnt from running this business
We’ve learned that it’s hard to know what products people want. We did a survey and according to it, people like blue necklaces the most. We made a lot of blue necklaces, but people bought red necklaces. Our analysis here is that the two groups (survey respondents and buyers) differed.
We have learned that shipping products to faraway places is very expensive. Postage fees are high. When the company grows, it would be a good idea to be a distributor in different countries. However, Greenbutton’s products are light compared to clay, porcelain or metal products.
We are happy, we had started the business ten years ago. Our knowledge of the research area is enormous. This year we were ready to bring Sisusavi® to the market.
We have learned that it is important to keep your eyes open and seize every opportunity. You never know which idea will win the lottery. We managed to find one publisher in China that was interested in our book.
We are confident in our business, and we are confident that we can grow it. In fact, we have multiple possibilities for our future in our heads all the time. Foresight should be the business of all companies.
- Monisha Bhanote MD, FCAP, ABOIM, CCMS, YMTS - April 19, 2024
- Salmon Nutrition and Health Benefits - April 19, 2024
- THE THRILLING STORY OF TALIS-US.CO AND ITS FOUNDERS - July 29, 2023
