Garayed recycles newspapers into handy school items

By Heba Alam ElDin

AUC graduates Salma El-Lakany and Sherine Maher are giving second life to used and unwanted newspapers and magazines through their online business “Garayed”.

Launched in 2014, “Garayed” (Arabic for newspapers) recycles old newspapers and magazines and resells them in the form of notebooks, folders and mobile covers.

The idea behind the business was first brought to light during their university years when El-Lakany, 24, and Maher, 26, both architectural engineering students at the time, decided to apply for the Hit Competition in 2013.

According to AUC’s website, the competition was held by the student-run Entrepreneurs Society (ES) to enable participants to develop the know-how of producing and sustaining a product in the market.

El-Lakany’s and Maher’s core theme was recycling; they wanted an idea that was also eco-friendly because it would have a positive impact on the community.

”You can get unique projects out of recycling,” El-Lakany said.

Although they did not win, both entrepreneurs made it to the top 10 out of 100 teams of the competition. As a result, they put the project on hold.

However, after consistent encouragement and support from their friends and fellow members of ES, they launched their business a couple of years later and in September 2015, the “Garayed” business was fully operational.

El-Lakany said that they faced many challenges when they decided to implement the business because their products were handmade and took longer than anticipated to craft. Maher explained that they had to buy the materials and create the products themselves.

Working independently on marketing and publicity was also a major difficulty, said EL-Lakany.

But there were aspects to the project where the two entrepreneurs had the upper hand.

“Our families supported us. However, the business is sort of self-sustainable because it was dependent on recycled materials and its start up was [on] a small scale so it did not need a lot of funds,” El-Lakany said, adding that whatever money they made, it was re-invested in the project.

This year, they added two different sizes of notebooks to their diverse collection, which features a comics line of cartoon characters such as of Mickey and Minnie.

They also added a vintage line, which includes newspapers from the 1950’s and “El Khabar mesh Hayroh Hadar” line, which loosely translates to “the news won’t go to waste”.

El-Lakany revealed that they manage their business through social media. After checking their product photos on Facebook and Instagram, customers can send their orders to Garayed’s email and then expect a reply with all the information necessary.

Heidi Mostafa, an AUC alumni and one of “Garayed’s” customers said, ”I bought their products because I really liked the idea of using recyclable material like newspaper, plus it’s very edgy and creative.”

She also added that she appreciated the good quality of the offered recycled products.

Both entrepreneurs are currently working on a new project in collaboration with the AUC Student Union Book Shop, an online platform that enables students to buy and sell used textbooks at reduced prices.

“Garayed’s” products will be showcased in the upcoming SU Novel Fair.

“I am so proud of an entrepreneurial idea that started in the university and that is being broadcast by social means to develop into something bigger,” said Yasmine Hafez, General Manager of the SU BookShop.

As for future endeavors, El-Lakany said they’re going to be launching a new line called “Cima”, which focuses on featuring old movies, actors and actresses.

The two AUC graduate entrepreneurs said they would also look into displaying their products in Antique Khana, a restaurant and art gallery in Zamalek.

“We are still developing our products and we will add more lines to the business,” El-Lakany said.

“We also offer customers the opportunity to place their own personalized orders.”