Every day, we transform discarded flip-flops from Kenyan beaches and waterways, turning them into vibrant, hand-carved sculptures that clean the planet and create dignified employment. Ocean Sole is a non-profit organization that removes trash from the oceans, coastlines and makes art to support marine conservation, whilst creating employment opportunities in high-impact areas. Just thirteen years
ago, however, this wildly improbable idea was just that — an idea that almost no one thought would ever become a reality. Well, it did, and now more than 150 full-time employees and flip-flop suppliers, work into giving plastic waste a second, more valuable life: last year along, we managed to recycle a whopping 750,000 flip flops into 65,000 art products. Welcome to our world, where the wildly improbable can and does come true. Ocean Sole’s vision is rooted in a deep reverence for the next generation — almost every week, another major educational institution embarks on a school trip to our premises, to better understand the plastic waste crisis. These partnerships brighten our common future, but more work remains. Our vision and what the future of Ocean Sole looks like:
Mattresses for disaster relief programs. From our off-cuts, we are prototyping mattresses that we hope to donate to disaster relief programs in Kenya. We have reached out to multiple aid organizations, who have been receptive to the idea. We are looking for funding to help us scale the project, as well as talent to help us with the design process. International Expansion
Often, we are asked how there can be so many flip-flops on the beaches - well, it’s simple.
2.5 billion people live that in the nations that bound the shores of the Indian Ocean and over 3 billion people wear flip-flops as that is all they can afford—a plastic shoe that costs about $1. Sometimes these shoes are the only shoes people own and are often discarded after 6-12 months of wear and tear. They end up in the dumps and can ultimately leak to rivers and the ocean. These flip -lops wreak havoc across the land and into our Oceans. We are an up-cycling solution to this ugly problem. Production of plastic is at a breakneck pace and to combat this global crisis, we will need to scale our programs in the Global South. Over the next year, we are concentrating on establishing the first significant Ocean Sole presence outside Kenya — in in Haiti, Bali, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Caribbean, Central America, Egypt — where is tremendous enthusiasm to help us set an example that can be copied elsewhere, to positivity impact other communities that have underprivileged coastal communities negatively impacted by plastic waste, thus impacting livelihoods with less employment opportunities in their communities
whose mission is to turn the earth’s flip-flop pollution into inspiring art to promote marine conservation and create employment in high impact communities. Our goal is to catalyze community and outreach programs and to support the burgeoning Ocean Sole brand, to plant the seeds for years of sustainable growth. Environmental impact:
¥ We have recycled over 559 tonnes of flip-flops since the social enterprise started in 2006 �
¥ On average we recycle between750,000 and 1,000,000 flip-flops a year �
¥ In 2018 we hand made over 65,000 products which have been sold globally - from �America to Australia �
¥ A minimum of 15% of our profits fund our impact coastal community or marine �conservation programmes �
¥ Our business employs and engages over 15 coastal communities along the Kenyan �coast to clean beaches and provide us flip-flops. �
Social impact:
¥ Over 1,200 Kenyans are supported by Ocean Sole through the employment and collection of flip-flops �
¥ We currently have 150 full-time employees and flip-flop suppliers �
¥ The sales revenue increase from 2017 to July 2019 is 86 % which has allowed us to �hire more people, open a new workshop that will employ over 25 people, and focus on going to another global location, whilst funding recycling efforts and other social enterprise endeavors �
¥ Year on year we grow on average over 50% which provides us to increase our impact by nearly 80% in employment, cleaning beaches and advocacy. �
¥ We have an employment welfare program for our employees which matches what the save for school fees, purchasing lands or emergencies �
¥ We provide health care �
¥ We had 28 schools participate in our education program at our Nairobi office in �2018 and over �
¥ We’ve educated more than 10,000 students on conservation �
¥ More than 22,000 hot meals are served to Ocean Sole employees every year �
¥ Over 200 children put through school from our wages, payment for flip-flop �supplies and scholarships �
¥ By improving our gender gap from under 10% to the current 45%, we have seen the �tangible gains that we have made by integrating women across the entire value �chain. �
¥ For every bulk product purchase from the Kiwayu women’s group, provides the equivalent of two person income for a year . �
¥ We send our employees around the world to demonstrate their art through education and installations. �
While you are here, check out out our ethical art - https://www.oceansoleonline.com/
HELP US MAKE A BIG SPLASH ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA
https://www.instagram.com/oceansole/
And follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OceanSole1
We have a YouTube account too! http://www.youtube.com/OceanSoleKenya
