A sustainable Jewels Project. A dream called Collartz.

Hi, I am Lidia Pitzalis. Even though I studied Languages, I found myself in the technology industry a bit by chance. And now I manage this Sustainable Jewels Project. A Dream called Collartz by Lidia Pitzalis. I was born in Turin, Italy, lived and studied in the island of Sardinia, went to Sweden to improve my English and study Swedish. Then I went to England two times, to improve my English. The first stop was in lovely Bath, developing my customer care skills and my already proven patience, in the 5 stars Hotel restaurant where I worked.

From philology to technology

After University, I moved to Edinburgh, to further improve my English and start my love relationship with technology. And little did I know that I would work in the European Apple Developers Program and in the tech support for multimedia apps at Macromedia. Until then, my only experience had been writing my thesis in Word. By then, Customer Care had become a real priority for me. Since one of my customers was so satisfied, he travelled from Madrid to Edinburgh to invite my colleague and myself for dinner, to thank us for solving his problem. We fell in love immediately and he moved to Scotland to live with me. Soon, we discovered we could work as a great team. Therefore, we moved to Madrid to develop Multimedia Apps. However, the online videogame magazine called GamesReview, that we undertook as a side project almost for fun, became a real business and successful until the Dot Com crisis.

Still much recycling to do

As you can see, Territory & Marine Conservation touch my heart. And it shocks me to see that even in big companies with well educated people, not all recycle. And I am not talking about the obligation, but the illusion and pleasure of doing it. It is not surprise then that Spain is still at a mere 29% of recycling, vs the European average of 45%, with Germany at a 66%, the Netherlands and Belgium at a 53%, Sweden 49% and Italy 45%. We are progressing, but it will take a while.

Developing recycled plastic Jewels

Collartz is my dream. And I want it to be a sustainable dream. In my travelling, I have selected some artists that make sustainable Jewels, using recycled rubber or recycled water buffalo horns. Or who make their Design Jewels with developing countries expert craftsmen and women. as And I am myself developing a recycled plastic from the Ocean line of Jewels. Wish me luck, as it is not an easy task. But I will be there, until I manage. Hopefully, with your support.

Me, a videogames expert?

At this point, to my dismay, I had become a videogame expert. At the end of the day, it is all about stories. Just as when reading, playing games can take you to amazing places and, very often, save the world! I started working in the Microsoft Consumer PR Agency. First, Best Relations, then ARS. There I developed my Communication skills, with the valuable help of many dear colleagues and managers that I will always thank for. Then, my dream became true. My love relationship with Microsoft started on a Valentine Day, and lasted many years of thrilling experiences and even more amazing colleagues, whom are now pillars of my life.

Volunteering around the world

During the 12 years at Microsoft, I devoted all my energy to my biggest passion: volunteer travelling. First, I worked in an orphanage, in Nepal. Then a Marine Conservation Project, in Borneo and Belize. Another  experience with wild animals in a South Africa Game Reserve. Also forest conservation, in Brazil, with Gorillas, in Cameroon. The most recent volunteer experience was with a micro-financing NGO in Cambodia. These are few of a wide array of impacting experiences that not only further developed my conservation obsession, but also the hope that we can do a lot clean our Planet.