When your flip-flops give out and die on you, the logical thing to do is throw them away. Who wants to keep gross, old, dirty slippers around, after all? Problem is, all that rubber will take upwards of 50 years to decompose, clogging our landfills and water systems the entire time. To help ease that, the FlipFlop Recycling Company has gone to work collecting discarded flip-flops and turning them into collectible items.
An eco-business based in Nairobi, Kenya, the outfit came about after a woman observed children making toys out of slippers that wash onto the shore. She took the idea and, literally, ran with it, starting a business that makes a whole host of items from discarded rubber slippers.
Women who live around the shores collect the flip-flops as they wash up and sell them to the FlipFlop Recycling Company. Workers, then, clean the slippers and pass them on to artisans who glue together different colors of rubber, before carving and sanding the bundles into a brand new creation. They create a good variety of items, too, including rubber sculptures, household goods, and fashion accessories, all of varying sizes.
The company host their flagship shop in Kenya, where visitors are encouraged to tour their recycling hubs and production center to help them gain a better appreciation of the kind of work they do. How much impact are they able to make for the environment? Probably not that huge, but it is definitely a small step of good compared to just leaving all that throwaway rubber unattended.
Check out the full gallery below.
You can learn more about the FlipFlop Recycling Company from their official website.