There’s a great story behind these necklaces: UniquEco – The (flip flop) Recycling Company was founded by two women, Julie Church and Tahreni Bwanaali in 2005.
UniquEco has contributed to the collection of flipflops, washed up from as far a field as Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia, on almost 150 km of Kenya’s coastline. The group is now collecting rubbish from urban centers such as Kibera, Musongari and Ongata Ongai in Nairobi.
The company started with creating recycled flip flop key chains for the World Wildlife Fund and has expanded into recycled flip flop jewelry and toys. The company not only provides sustainable income opportunities for the women and youth of the community but also the beach collections have had a positive impact on nesting turtles and their hatchlings.
Flip-flops are joined together and then carved into a variety of wonderful one-of-a-kind sculptures such as fish, whales, planes, cars, boats, animals, insects etc… The remaining pieces of the carved and punched shoes are collected and shipped in sacks to Nairobi where they are then ground down to fill cushions.
UniquEco is one of those businesses that you want to support. They believe they can make a difference through fair business, combined with social and environmental goals
£25.00 for necklaces and £20.00 for hippos, available for purchase at Made