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| Flip the flop T-shirt – by Ocean Sole |
Did you know that flip-flops constitute one of the most commonly found items of beach plastic? Every beach around the world will have a flip-flip or 100 floating around. How can this be? The footwear seems to have become “disposable”. As we all know, plastic is not disposable, as it never goes away! Flip-flops are cheaply produced from a combination of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate and other plastics and exist in every colour under the sun. They are positively buoyant, which allows them to travel far and wide across the ocean on the water’s surface.
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| Flip-flops in Mobassa, Kenya – photo by Ocean Sole
“A staggering 3 billion people on planet earth wear flip flops as their primary form of shoe as they are so affordable.” |
Have you ever found a pair on your travels? Do they get forgotten on sunset walks and swept away by waves? Do they fall off people’s feet dangling overboard on boats? Do they spill out of rubbish bags being transported across the sea? Are they washed out from cities to sea?
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| Hammerhead Shark by Ocean Sole |
“50% of flip flops are consumed in Asia. The refuse systems in many Asian countries are poor and the flip flops end up in the rivers. The rivers lead to the sea where the trade-winds drive them onto the east coast of Africa (provided marine animals don’t consume them en route). It’s not just the east coast of Africa that’s affected though – we’re seeing flip flop pollution from South America to the Himalayan river systems.”
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| Cleanup by Ocean Sole |
In Kenya, they end up being collected by the creative people at Ocean Sole, and turned into art!
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| Ocean Sole employee and Panda sculpture from flip-flops – Ocean Sole Ocean Sole staff ha ve cleaned up over 1,000 tonnes of flip-flops from the ocean and Kenyan waterways since 1998. They employ over 150 low-income Kenyans, offering them a steady income and a place in the social enterprise and supply chain. With the sale of their beautifully colourful sculptures made of trash, they are able to contribute 10% of their income to marine conservation programmes.
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| Ocean Sole employees cleaning the flip-flops |
The company was started by Julie Church in 1999 who was inspired by the toys children were making out of flip-flops washing up on the beaches of Kiwayu. She worked with the mothers of these children to collect, wash and cut the discarded flip-flops.
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| Ocean Sole employee cleaning a Giraffe sculpture This is how the products started to be developed and in 2005 the social enterprise Ocean Sole was born, promoting |
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| Women and sculptures – Ocean Sole |
The company has grown ever since and even the Pope took an Extra large elephant home when he visited Kenya in 2015.
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| The Pope and elephant made from flip-flops – Ocean Sole |
Thank you Ocean Sole for being a fine example of how social enterprises can be good for people and the planet!