JA Europe: Team Scribo

Whiteboard markers present an environmental challenge, as they dry out quickly and are tossed into waste bins in conference rooms and classrooms all over the world, resulting in millions of pounds of waste. But one JA company found a solution: zero-waste markers that also recycle printer wax that would also end up in a landfill. 

The De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award is the most prestigious student award in the JA network. Made possible by the generosity of JA Worldwide Governor Ralph de la Vega and his wife, Maria, the competition brings together the first-place JA Student Company winners from JA’s six regions.

Scribo from JA Slovakia and JA Europe took home the prize in 2022, with its zero-waste, environmentally friendly whiteboard markers made from recycled printer wax, a waste product that the printer is happy to give away for free. Miroslava Velgosová, Gréta Sotáková, Oszkár Urbán, Jakub Mičko, who make up Team Scribo, tried nearly two dozen varieties of alternative materials before finding an innovative composition that neither produces waste nor leads to dried-out markers, offering the potential to keep 35 billion markers out of landfills each year. Scribo markers are currently available in ten countries.

Thanks to the generosity of the de la Vega family, Scribo received a US$15,000 cash prize and other educational opportunities. Students are free to spend the money as they see fit, whether they continue to grow their business or further their education.

Ralph and Maria de la Vega were inspired to create this award when they attended a JA Company of the Year competition in Oslo, Norway. Inspired by the young people they saw competing, they wanted to do more. “Young people are living messages to a time we will not live to see,” Ralph said at this year’s De La Vega Global Enterpreneurship Award ceremony. “Messages of hope, messages of inspiration, messages of prosperity, and messages of peace.”