Recycling Flip Flops
Our world, our planet is a beautiful place, and it’s up to all of us to help earth, her forests, her ocean, and all her creatures to thrive. We humans haven’t been doing a very good job of that, but it’s never too late to begin and to change. One simple thing we can do is reduce pollution by recycling flip flops. It’s easy to do and we’ll tell you how. But first, here are some sobering facts:
• Flip flops don’t go away. “They stay forever in landfills or make their way into the ocean. Many of the older and cheaper ones are made of non-recyclable plastics that contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and phthalates, cadmium and lead, everything together makes these sandals carcinogenic to humans and toxic to animals and plants.” (Source: blueocean.net)
• “Plastic pollution: Flip-flop tide engulfs ‘paradise’ island” – that’s the headline in a 2019 BBC article by Matt McGrath in which he shows a disturbing photo of plastic debris on an uninhabited beach. The photo’s caption reads, “Close to a million plastic shoes, mainly flip flops, are among the torrent of debris washed up on an “unspoilt paradise” in the Indian Ocean.” (Unspoiled no more thanks to humans.)
• “Millions of discarded flip flops posing huge hazard to ocean life.” Another headline, this one from an article by Olivia Yasukawa and Thomas Page, CNN.
• “Whale died with stomach full of flip-flops,” by Amanda Kooser, CNET.com.
Enough with the depressing news! How about some good news?
• You can recycle your old flip flops. Take them to your recycling center.
• “Scientists are making flip-flops out of algae that are 100% biodegradable” by Elizabeth McCauley, BusinessInsider.com
• This company, OceanSole, is a Kenyan flip flop art group which recycles washed up flip flops found along beaches and waterways in Kenya to not only make gorgeous sculptures but also give employment opportunities to low-income families. I just bought this colorful dolphin for $35. For every $20 you spend on sculptures, they collect and up-cycle 146 pounds of ocean trash.
• “17 Flippin’ Fab, Eco Friendly And Recycled Flip Flops” with links to “vegan, eco friendly and recycled flip flops.”
• And how about something as simple as buying only one pair of flip flops that you can use over and over for virtually every occasion? By using just one pair of flip flops that you can dress up with Flipping Bling®, you will help reduce the number of flip flops that end up in our oceans and landfills. Now that’s something to feel good about.
Flipping Bling Fashion Note: Make your one pair of flip flops look like two, ten or twenty. Change your look within seconds. Learn about the Bling Maker™ base and pop over to our shop page to find your perfect designs.
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