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Look at these big hippo and watch this little rhino.
There among crafts for sale in this shop in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
One wouldn't expect they come from rubbish but they do.
These animals and artifacts are all makes from flip flops that are very
common in Africa.
Look at this beach and watch this fisherman at work.
You wouldn't expect the Kenyan coast has rubbish but it has.
There are dozens of flip flops left behind anywhere.
The flip flops for the craft animals come from here.
They are collected through beach clean ups organized by local conservation groups.
They want to get rid of the flip flops because they not only spoil the
beach but also kill animals that are trying to eat them.
The chairman of this group sends out teams two times per month for a few days.
Per day we collect
two hundred
kg.
Sometimes 400 kg
like this.
The villagers sell their harvest at 35 cents per kg.
For 36 years old Hamisi Guma
it's an easy way to make some extra money to sustain his family.
The money is used to for our society
eating
and we pay our school fees
an other things.
The flip flops are brought to a workshop in Nairobi for processing
and according to the World Wildlife Foundation
they're among the biggest marine polluters.
Because billions of people worldwide wear them
and after being used they find a way to the oceans through rivers and ultimately
they wash ashore.
After cleaning craftsmen convert these beasts into beauties.
I am making a lion. Actually now I am putting the manes.
After making the carvings and sanding
this is the last stage.
The company is called Ocean Sole and was founded fifteen years ago
by Kenyan born Julie Church. She was working in marine conservation on the
Kenyan coast.
Where she saw children making toys from flip flops. - And that's really where the
idea came from.
I took this concept and sold it on one of the first Nairobi
Christmas craft fairs
and there was an interest.
Now over forty people are working in the company.
Processing four hundred tons of flip-flops per year
into a house decorations that are sold locally in the shop
and worldwide through the internet. - It's not we just want to get rich on flip flops.
This is a means to an end and the end being people made aware
of the oceans. Because the ocean is the world's dump yard.
People made aware that this is an African solution to a global problem.
And through that we've given a lot of people work.
For logistic reasons the workshop is in Nairobi.
but in the coming years Julie intends to open workshops back on Kenya's white
sands beaches.