The Staramaki project was born out of its surroundings: the Kilkis and Doirani communities, which are located near Greece’s borders with North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Staramaki team members, including Kamperis, had previously worked with UNHCR projects aimed at providing safe housing to vulnerable groups in northern Greece, including Syrian refugees.
Staramaki felt like a natural extension of giving struggling community members a place to live. “Now we wanted to support income- and skills-generating activities,” recalled Kamperis.
Since 2019, the team has established Staramaki as a social, for-profit cooperative enterprise, which employs both locals and refugees in the area. Workers receive decent jobs and wages — no small offering in a region where unemployment rates approach 42 percent. All Staramaki’s profits are ultimately fed back into social housing projects that support vulnerable populations in the area.
Staramaki’s business model extracts value from wheat stalks, which are left over from local agricultural activities. The straws are fully biodegradable and, as a bonus, do not become soggy during use. Crucially, Staramaki makes the stalk-based straws without relying on high energy consumption or added chemicals.
This eco-friendly production process sets Staramaki straws apart from not just plastic straws, but also popular alternatives. Kamperis points out that making paper straws, for instance, still relies on deforestation and significant amounts of energy. Similar criticisms apply to PLA straws which, although ostensibly biodegradable, are created through heavy processing techniques.
