The paper crisis in said country, which resulted from the currency crash of August 2018, catalyzed the creation of Cha Paper, which revolves around a simple idea: Using a waste product in order to create a sustainable and eco-conscious solution to an economic problem with societal impact.

In the summer of 2018, Turkey was hit very hard by a currency crisis which had been brewing over the last 6 years, but still came as an intense shock as the value of Turkish lira took a plunge of 16% against US dollar in one day and close to 60% in a 6-month period. The importance of a higher level of self-sufficiency was largely discussed by the whole society, especially after what became known as the paper crisis. The soaring prices of all kinds of paper, from toilet to writing/printing, was the talk of social and non-digital media for days. The reason for the uncontrollable rise of price was clear – Turkey is among the top-15 biggest importers of paper and related products in the world, with a volume of $2.8 billion in 2017. The paper factories were completely shut down or on hold in the last 15 years.

The most interesting ideas tend to arrive in the direst of times. While searching for a creative way to use or reuse local elements in the Turkish society, the thought of using a massively generated organic waste product in order to find a eco-friendly solution to an ongoing economic as well as social problem hit me – why not put tea, the emblematic hot beverage of these lands, into further good use after its designated consumption? Cha Paper is the child of this train of thought.