How Janna Willoughby-Lohr Of Papercraft Miracles Is Helping to Promote Sustainability and Climate Justice
An Interview With Monica Sanders
Cultivate Curiosity and Collaboration. Always be curious, creative and willing to learn but also willing to admit when you’re wrong. We get the best solutions to problems when we work together; community is key to the future.
According to the University of Colorado, “Those who are most affected and have the fewest resources to adapt to climate change are also the least responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions — both globally and within the United States.” Promoting climate justice is an incredibly important environmental responsibility that is slowly becoming more and more recognized. In this interview series, we are talking to leaders helping promote sustainability and climate justice. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Janna Willoughby-Lohr
Janna Willoughby-Lohr is an artist, entrepreneur, speaker, and the founder of Papercraft Miracles, an eco-friendly handmade paper art company specializing in sustainable weddings, corporate gifting, and custom creations. Her work combines creativity and sustainability, crafting meaningful products like plantable seed paper and custom gifts for clients like Lowe’s, Twitter, and Lionel Richie. A recipient of the Ignite Buffalo Grant and the Women in Manufacturing Award, Janna also hosts the Reach the Stars Podcast. She serves as a board member for NAWBO Buffalo/Niagara, advocating for diversity and inclusion in business leadership.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I came from a really interesting family structure. I was born into the middle of two marriages that were in the process of splitting up, and my biological parents were never married to each other. My biological father was divorcing his first wife, who happened to be my mother’s boss. He didn’t want to have another child, but my mother was insistent on keeping me, even though this was not the ideal situation to bring another kid into. My mom was separating from her husband as well, but despite the fact that he knew I wasn’t his kid, he still showed up for me, drove her to the hospital, and put his name as my father on my birth certificate. Later that day, my biological dad showed up at the hospital too saying, “Hey, where’s my kid?” but they never changed the birth certificate. So, for all intents and purposes, I have had my mom and two dads since I was born. Everyone divorced soon after that, and both my dads remarried. I also had two stepmothers (who had both been married before as well). Did I mention that between these three households, I also had a combined seven brothers and sisters, most of whom were not related to each other at all? Yeah, it’s complicated.
Throughout my childhood, I lived at all three houses, an interloper of sorts, amongst three completely different families. I lived with my mom and an older half-brother from Monday to Friday. Then I went to my legal dad and stepmom’s house (with my older half-brother, older stepbrother, and younger stepsister) from Friday-Saturday, and then on to my biological dad and stepmom’s house (with my younger half-brother and adopted-half-brother) for Saturday-Sunday. I also had an older adopted half-sister and half-brother on my biological dad’s side who lived mainly with their mother but who were still very much a part of my life. I had five brothers and two sisters, but I was an only child, the oldest at one house, the middle child at another house, and the baby at another…all in one week.
It was obviously a very wild way to grow up, and where some might say that I came from a “broken home,” I choose to call it a “Nuclear Family Reaction.” In a situation where I could have easily been neglected and treated as the baby that nobody wanted, instead, all the adults in my life chose to rise above their differences and include me as part of all of their families, and I am forever grateful. While I did get used to being independent very early in life and would pack my own things to travel from house to house every week, while my siblings stayed put at their permanent houses, I was lucky to have so many people and relationships to learn from. Each house had different rules and routines in addition to income levels and locations.
Spending the majority of my time with my single mother, who struggled a lot financially and health-wise, I grew up well-versed in food insecurity, living in an environment that was often unhealthy and unsupervised as she was almost always at work. I could cook myself dinner by the time I was six, and I remember many instances when I didn’t have clean clothes or sheets on my bed.
But then it would be Friday, and I would stay with my legal dad and stepmom, both teachers. I got the life of a middle-class kid who was served vegetables and taken on camping trips. I also got to live a life with a routine and a regimen and had parents who were hands-on with my homework.
My mom and my legal dad both had homes in the city, so I experienced living in an urban environment across two neighborhoods with various neighbors, stores, and parks. However, I would often visit my biological dad and stepmom’s house in the country for the rest of the weekend. My biological dad and stepmom were well-off, being a scientific researcher and a lawyer, so not only did I enjoy an upper-middle-class lifestyle with summer vacations and learning to ski, but I also got to experience life in a rural setting where we could go outside into nature every day for as long as we wanted.
To say it was a unique way to grow up is a gross understatement, but having five parents amongst three households in all these different locations, structures, and means has given me a perspective on life that I know most people will never have in one lifetime. I learned what worked and didn’t work in relationships. I learned different skills and ways of making my way in the world, enjoying having extra and surviving with less. Most importantly, I learned to adapt to my surroundings, to be a chameleon, and to fit into the spaces afforded to me. In some ways, I don’t know how to be only one person living one life, but it gives me the ability to see things from others’ perspectives more easily.
Everyone has a cataclysmic moment or marker in their life which propels them to take certain actions, a “why”. What is your why?
When I was just a 20-year-old college junior, my mom died. And then four months later, my dorm caught fire and burnt to the ground with all my stuff in it…while I was in it. Luckily, no one died, and I wasn’t injured, but I had lost everything. It was brutal– dealing with all that while still being a full-time student, traveling back and forth from Asheville, NC to Buffalo, NY via Greyhound bus to deal with my mom’s estate and lack of a will while navigating the insurance systems and learning how to be an instant adult. And then they cut my financial aid. It was a lot.
But it was in the wake of all of that when I started to make art about my experiences with grief and trauma. In that healing process, I started learning to change my priorities in life. As a young person, traditional markers of “success” are all material things–an apartment, a car, a nice stereo…and I had none of those. I lived in a 2-room motel suite with six other people, attempting to continue life as I knew it. While I had physically lost just about everything, it became very clear that I had gained so much more. It was very apparent to me that life was so much more than the things you have; in fact, none of those “things” mattered at all. What mattered was my relationships with other people and to the world around me. My perspective on life, success, and self-worth had been forever changed. I didn’t need things to survive and thrive; I needed connection. I needed passion. I needed purpose. And that’s it. A nice stereo? That’s just icing on the dessert of the privilege of being alive.
With this newfound perspective on my life, I began making interactive artist’s books that focused on connection and the magic of coming back to life after you think you’ll die. I started sharing my books and poems at these “Show & Tell” style events, and people would come up to me afterward, crying and telling me that I had changed them. Over and over, I heard the same thing: “I’m not the same person I was before I saw that.” Suddenly, it was obvious that my art had the power to bring about positive change in the world. I didn’t realize that the vulnerability of sharing my grief with the world would be the thing that brought me back to life. It was so clear to me what I was going to do for the rest of my life. That’s why I named my company Papercraft Miracles because this art saved me when I literally had nothing.
This experience changed my relationship with “stuff.” I was no longer seeking to achieve or prove my success by accumulating the best “stuff,” and materialism just started bouncing off me. While I do not advocate for everyone abandoning their material possessions and living a nomadic life, I’m more of the vein that if you have stuff, it should matter. It should be the kind of thing that brings you joy and memories of another person or another time whenever you see it or use it. It should either intentionally last for generations or be easily returnable to the earth.
You are currently leading an organization that is making a difference for our planet. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change?
Papercraft Miracles is an eco-friendly handmade paper art company, and we make magical things out of paper that help people connect, communicate, and celebrate in unique and meaningful ways. While some might say, “How much of a difference can you make with paper, really?” I like to counter that with a reminder about how many industries utilize things made with paper (or things that COULD be made with paper instead) daily. I’m talking about the stationery product industry, the wedding and event industry, the floral industry, corporate gifting, marketing, product packaging, the hospitality industry and so much more. We are aiming to affect positive change across all of these industries by educating people about the environmental impact of the choices they make in each of these fields and spearheading innovation to find alternatives to those choices that have a lower carbon footprint. We encourage people to do more with less and to be intentional about the choices they make. For example, many people planning a wedding have no idea how incredibly wasteful the event industry is. One wedding produces, on average, 400 pounds of trash, which adds up to a billion pounds of wedding trash in the US alone…each year. If each of those weddings made a conscious effort to select more items that could be reused, planted, recycled, or composted, the impact would be huge and felt almost immediately. Not only does educating our clients and our audience about reducing waste at weddings make a difference in their choices, but it continues to affect change throughout the industry when they ask their other vendors about the sustainable options available. Those vendors then start looking into ways to make their businesses more environmentally stable and so on. Not to mention all the guests who attend those events who then learn about how the couple has worked to reduce their impact on the environment, take that knowledge with them, and tend to share it with other people who are getting married or having events. Education has a ripple effect on whole industries like that.
Aside from the wedding & event industry, the marketing and corporate gifting industries are also incredibly wasteful, and often, these industries tend to overlap. Ever been to a conference and you get a nylon swag bag full of neoprene koozies and plastic water bottles, glossy coupons, and polyester lanyards with plastic name tags? Do you know that all that stuff will likely stay in that bag in a landfill for generations? Yeah. It’s pretty awful. While there is definitely a growing trend in “sustainable swag,” there are still so many issues with the available products and the “more, more, more” mentality. Mass-produced products that don’t get used, even if they were slightly more sustainable in how they were made, are still wasteful. A lanyard made of cork isn’t good for the environment, even if it looks like it is. We work to produce more conscious products, not just in their materials and packaging, but in their ability to communicate with the end user. It comes back to my general ethos, “If you’re going to have stuff, it should matter.” A nametag made with plantable handmade paper will spark more conversations amongst the attendees than a bag of plastic swag because it has a story. They will talk about where it came from, what it is made from, where they plan to plant it, or who they plan to give it to so they can tell someone else about it. A single item like that can bring more connection than a million clicky pens ever could.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
In 2021, we had a client ask if it would be possible to create half a million seed bombs…in just two months. I said, “Define possible. How much money have you got?” Over the next couple of days, my staff and I ran a bunch of tests, contacted a bunch of suppliers, and sent the client a bid, and we got it! At the time of the call, I had two part-time employees, and within a week, I had brought on a fractional HR manager and a temporary team of nearly 70 people. Then, we immediately started developing a production schedule and a training system to do the impossible. We worked 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for the entire two months, and delivered them on time.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. This entire project was one exercise in creative problem-solving after the other, over and over all day long. First, we had to figure out how to source enough raw material for the base of the seed bombs that was sustainable, available, cost-effective, made in the US, and came in multiple colors. Then, we had to source our seeds and make sure the supplier was able to get us enough of them to complete the job. Once we had our supplies in order, we had to devise a system to create massive amounts of paper pulp in our existing space, as all the larger paper pulp suppliers we deal with said there was no possible way that they could get us enough pre-pulped material delivered to us in the time we needed it. So we improvised and got some restaurant equipment that was able to create pulp to the right consistency and quantities that we needed. But all of that was a gamble because we were already two weeks into the job when the equipment arrived, and if it didn’t work, we would never be able to meet the deadline. But they did work, and we were off and running.
Over the course of the job, we had to solve problems in how we drained the water from the pulp, and our solution actually allowed us to recapture the water we drained out and reuse it to keep making more pulp. Then we had to figure out how to train dozens of people with no experience in our industry whatsoever how to make our product quickly, consistently, and in high quality while also keeping team morale high. Then we ran into issues getting all the seed bombs we were making each day to dry before they sprouted. We ended up creating nets in the ceiling, storing them on old silkscreen frames and anywhere else we could keep the air circulating around them while they dried. By the end of the job, we had added 4 additional flat drying racks in addition to the 150 giant screened shelves we had initially started with. It was wild. And all of this was during the Delta wave of COVID so we had that to contend with too.
We ended up setting up two 6-hour shifts per day so we could keep production going and we sanitized the entire space and all the equipment in between each one every day. Everyone wore masks, and we took everyone’s temperature when they came in the door. We always had good music playing and we had daily contests to see which of our Miracle Workers could make the most seed bombs in 30 minutes, and we had some pretty amazing prizes for the winners. Working in an environment like that, where everyone is doing the same thing and working together towards a seemingly impossible common goal, was a beautiful thing to be part of. We had workers from all walks of life–high school kids working their first jobs after school, immigrants who didn’t speak any English at all, retirees who were bored and lonely during the pandemic who just wanted to try something new, and all of us worked together pretty seamlessly, day in and day out.
I had always felt like I could lead a giant team like that, but I had never had the chance before that job happened, and it gave me a glimpse into the future that I had always seen for my company–so many talented artists, all working together. It was magical.
None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?
I have had SO many people who have helped me along my journey that it is actually hard to count them, but there are definitely a few who stand out. First, I have to give a shoutout to my NAWBO sisters. Joining the National Association of Women Business Owners gave me an entire army of supporters at my back, even before they really knew who I was and what I did. They were so willing to share their experience and their networks with me. Through one of my NAWBO sisters, I heard about a local small business pitch competition and she said I would be a great fit for it. I applied and ended up winning $25,000 and a year of curated business mentorship and that changed the course of my business forever.
Some of the judges of that competition loved seeing the direct impact of the money and coaching on our community, and they ended up founding an organization to put on trainings, coaching programs, and other funding opportunities for small businesses across the country, and being one of the initial winners, I ended up being a guinea pig for the programs they were creating. I got so many amazing opportunities to learn and grow and to build every aspect of my business through that program and I am forever grateful to have been a part of it. Learning and working with those mentors and other entrepreneurs not only helped my business to grow but helped me become a leader. It also helped me to see that collaborating with others is the best way to build and support a community, and that is the way for all of us to make our way forward together.
Thank you for that. Let’s now move to the central part of our discussion. Let’s start with a basic definition of terms so that everyone is on the same page. What does climate justice mean to you? How do we operationalize it?
To me, climate justice is mutual aid on a global scale–working together to support and protect the most vulnerable populations while sharing resources and putting people and the planet ahead of profit. The easiest way to operationalize it is to incentivize the largest businesses to start working towards common goals as soon as humanly possible, and we can help push these companies to do the right thing by making strategic choices with where we spend our money. Educating the public about what sustainable options already exist and continuing to develop new methods of reducing waste and repurposing waste material are two of the best ways we can keep pushing the world forward. Big companies have already started prioritizing some of these things by seeing what choices their target markets are making and now every large company has a sustainability department, which was not the case even a decade ago. While our US government is currently backsliding significantly in many of these areas (which is both ignorant and disgraceful), the rest of the developed world is still actively working to address the issues of climate change. While there are definitely still industries, including fast fashion and single-use plastics, that need to drastically change their business models to reverse their true impact on global warming, many other industries have finally begun to make change.
Science is telling us that we have 7–10 years to make critical decisions about climate change. What are three things you or your organization are doing to help?
First off, we work to educate people about the effect of their own actions on the environment. Many people simply don’t realize the power they have to make change or that things they mindlessly do daily are actually harming the environment. Putting out a free sustainable wedding planning guide, offering alternatives to wasteful marketing materials, teaching workshops in the community, and generally encouraging people to think about the things they buy, are all at the top of our list of ways we are helping our planet.
Secondly, we partner with other local companies to utilize their waste materials in the products we make. This not only reduces waste in our own community, but reduces the amount of material we need to ship into the area, further reducing our carbon footprint. And working together like this also helps to further our first goal of educating people as we and our community partners can tell our customers and the world about the ways we are working together to reduce waste.
Thirdly, we make it a point to be conscious about every aspect of our business, from the vendors we buy from to the packaging we use, we are constantly looking for ways that we can improve. We also try our best to ensure that we only support businesses that honor our values of people and planet ahead of profit wherever possible. And remember that being sustainable isn’t just about protecting the environment, it also includes fighting for diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of our world. The exploitation of other people is not sustainable. Not in the slightest.
Are there three things the community, society, or politicians can do to help you in your mission?
The number one thing that politicians can do right now would be to stop denying that climate change exists and to stop allowing other politicians to spread this disastrous lie. Full stop. Continuing to believe the far-right delusions that climate change isn’t real and upon us is not only delaying crucial actions but is also spreading misinformation and ignorance throughout our society, all for the sake of greed. It’s shameful, short-sighted and frankly, embarrassing. Our leaders need to do better. Secondly, they need to actively enact (and reinstate) laws and regulations that protect the environment including swift reductions in fossil fuel dependency and increased investment in renewable energy and to eliminate the ability to purchase carbon credits in order to keep polluting the world. If a company is not operating in a sustainable way, they must pay to actually correct the problems they are causing, not just pay to offset the damage down the line. We are already down the line and there is no line left. Thirdly, they need to invest heavily in the education of our youth including providing funding to scientific climate research facilities in universities across the country.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
People are willing to pay more for a product or service if they know that their purchase is supporting something they believe in and something that benefits them, they just have to be made aware of it. My company has been implementing different green initiatives since I founded it and many changes we have made along the way did initially come with a higher price tag. When we installed our solar panels there was a large up front cost but being able to tell our customers that we have a solar-powered business has brought in more than enough revenue to cover the cost. It was the same thing when we implemented all compostable packaging. Yes, the cost of the packaging was more but it was important to me to actually walk the walk when running our company. Creating an eco-friendly product and then wrapping it in plastic pretty much defeats the purpose of making that product. Not only did it make sense with our company values, but it also brought a sense of authenticity to everything we do. Many of our customers are eco-conscious people. They know enough to see greenwashing when they see it and nothing loses you credibility faster than pandering.
But there are plenty of initiatives we implemented that saved us money and resources and were also good for the environment. For example, when we started partnering with local businesses to take their waste material and turn it into new products. We have partnered with offices, print shops, florists, tailors, and restaurants to reuse material that would otherwise end up in landfills. We get this material for free so it reduces our cost of goods sold, but it also benefits our partners because they don’t have to pay to get rid of their waste. By partnering in this way both of our companies increase our profits while working in a more sustainable way, and it’s also a great story to share in our marketing, promoting both businesses and sharing our audiences together. Win, win, win.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started promoting sustainability and climate justice” and why?
1 . Embrace Imperfect Progress. People generally want to make the world a better place. Try to make it easy for them to get on board in whatever way they can. We don’t need one person doing zero-waste perfectly. We need millions of people to make more conscious choices consistently.
2 . Focus Your Energy Wisely. There are going to be people who are insistent on staying ignorant. It will not be worth the stress of arguing with them by trying to change their minds. You cannot force change on anyone. Let them come to change in their own time.
3 . Start Local, Think Global. It may sound cliché, but “Think Globally. Act Locally” really is the best strategy. It’s hard to change the entire world by yourself, but you can make a big difference in the world around you.
4 . Cultivate Curiosity and Collaboration. Always be curious, creative and willing to learn but also willing to admit when you’re wrong. We get the best solutions to problems when we work together; community is key to the future.
5 . Prioritize Self-Care. Remember to care for yourself and secure your own mask before helping others. Activism is exhausting work. I once asked my amazing friend & poet, Sonya Renee Taylor, how she kept up the energy to keep fighting for justice day in and day out, and she told me, “I only give from my overflow.” and it changed me. I wish I had learned that lesson so much earlier.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would love to spend time with my favorite author, Dan Millman. His book, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, was given to me by a friend when I was a sophomore in college and if I hadn’t read that book prior to losing my mom and surviving that fire, I 100% would not have come out of that experience the way I did…with the outlook that I did. I must have read it 20 times in almost 25 years since then, and every single time, it has changed my perspective on life and my place in the world. His other books are amazing, too, and I hope to someday get to let him know how grateful I am that he decided to share his stories with the world.
How can our readers continue to follow your work online?
Website: https://www.papercraftmiracles.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/papercraftmiracles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/papercraftmiracles
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/papercraftmiracles
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/papermiracle
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janna-willoughby-lohr/
LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/papercraft-miracles
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/papercraftmiracles.bsky.social
Art of Business & The Business of Art–Online Masterclass in Creative Entrepreneurship: https://www.bgplearning.com/courses/businessofart
Free Sustainable Wedding Planning Guide: https://papercraftmiracles.zoholandingpage.com/weddingguide/
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
How Janna Willoughby-Lohr Of Papercraft Miracles Is Helping to Promote Sustainability and Climate… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.