These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity.

Tinka Robev and her co-founder Andrew Azzopardi are fitting together the pieces of running an ethical business creating puzzles made with care for consumers, creatives, workers and the planet. Together they run Victoria, BC’s Puzzle Lab.

Tell us about your project

At the surface, we create, manufacture and sell heirloom-quality wood puzzles for adults featuring contemporary artwork by local and Canadian artists. On a deeper level, Puzzle Lab exists to uplift humanity through play, whimsy and an “ethical capitalism” business model that puts the planet and the people ahead of the profit.

When it comes to the planet, we apply a rigorous environmental and climate protection lens to every decision we make. The puzzles are laser cut from a locally-sourced, formaldehyde-free wood product made from sawdust left over from other wood industries in BC. We avoid the use of plastics in our product and packaging and neutralize our shipping through a carbon offset program.

As for the people, we........

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