I never really though about what a huge impact flipflops could make, both positively and negatively. Flipflops are such a simple and common clothing item, and it is for this same reason that millions of people in the world own a pair, therefore making abandoned flipflops a main contributor of environmental disasters.

Thousands of flipflops are washed into the beaches of Kenya, causing not just visual contamination but clogging waterways, and threatening the ecosystem by killing fish and baby turtles.

Ocean Sole is a flipflop recycling company that was created with the sole purpose of finding a solution to flipflop contamination.

As a response, under the Ocean Sole Company, in 2005, UniqueEco Designs was formed at Marula Studios in Kenya, as a for profit company that launched with the purpose of finding a fresh and fun solution to beach pollution as well as local poverty.

Local artisans use recycled flipflops to build colourful sculptures of animals such as sharks, turtles, whales, elephants, dolphins and more. These sculptures are sold, and 5% of the profit is donated to the Ocean Sole Foundation.

The local workers also make giant sculptures and showcase them in order to raise awareness for the marine life conservation, and to bring support back to the Ocean Sole Foundation, as 25% the giant sculpture’s profits go directly back to the foundation.

The Ocean Sole Foundation is a small foundation that focuses on the conservation of marine life in collaboration with local communities. It currently provides Jobs to 40 local workers. It aims to connect people with the sea, their waste and their own responsibility. They RISE to action and aim to Recycle, Innovate, Sustain and Educate.

“The ocean sole foundation works with communities, scientists, conservationists, artists, governments, industries and other non-profit organizations that are raising awareness and are actively involved in marine conservation. We support actions that recycle, reduce and reuse marine and waterway debris.” (Ocean Sole Company)

Some of Ocean Sole’s Accomplishments include:

In 2006, Ocean Wise created a real life size Minke whale made out of wire mesh and recycled flipflops to raise awareness in Environmental Day in Mombasa, Kenya. As well in 2008, an 18 feet Giraffe was made and shipped to Rome to be displayed and raise awareness during Fashion Week.

In 2008, Ocean Sole was one if the 12 finalists in the BBC World Challenge, were they were recognized as a small business that demonstrates enterprise and innovation.

In 2010, The Swedish Cultural Museum echibited The Flipflop Palm Tree highlighting Kenya’s innovative use of recycled flipflops. As well, Ocean Sole won the Kenya National Award at the Energy Globe Awards for its sustainable development.

In 2012, Ocean Sole was featured on BBc2’s “indian Ocean” series. Also, in 2012, they exhibited their new jewellery collection at the 2012 Ethical Fashion Week in Paris under the Source East Africa Brand.

In 2013, they appeared in Trade Shows in the USA such as the New York International Gift Fair, the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market and the Museum Stores Association Conference and Expo in LA.

Ocean Sole is both a profit company and a aiding foundation. I had never heard of them before until recently and I think that what they are doing is absolutely fantastic and inspiring. They make use of the triple bottom line, achieving social, environmental and economical success! They generate self-supportive jobs for local workers in Kenyan where they educate them to recycle the flipflops and produce beautiful sculptures, while being part of running a business all the same time. On the other hand, they raise awareness for the marine life conservation while helping to save the ecosystem.

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/recycled-flipflops-toys.html

http://www.ocean-sole.com

I had previously heard that hemp is refined and used for many products such as hemp oil, hemp seed foods, wax, rope, cloth, canvas and paper. However, I just recently learned about its amazing properties and ability to make renewable food, fuel and fiber!

Hemp is a variety of the Cannabis plant, which contains fiber, oil and seeds. Due to its tensile strength, it is commonly mixed with other organic fibers such as flax, cotton, or silk and used for the production of durable clothing items. Furthermore, hemp is also commonly used for nutritional foods due to its natural protein and oil content.

What I find the most exciting about hemp is that it has the potential to help “green up” many industries!

A clear example of a company that is using hemp to become a fully sustainable business is Chateau Maris, a biodynamic and organic French winery. It created a 9,000 square foot net-zero energy wine cellar by using organic hemp and lime bricks. The cellar is energy-efficient as well as biodegradable.

Hemp’s properties insulates the building keeping it warm in the winter, and ventilates it in the summer, therefore keeping the temperature a consistent 54 to 63 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year. This way there is no need to have cooling or heating systems installed, and a manual duct was installed for greater airflow.

The two owners of the wine celery started research five years ago and found that hemp was the best alternative because it is locally grown (low-carbon transport), cheap, doesn’t require irrigation or fertilizers, it creates good soil structure, is very light (two-foot think brick weighs 33 pounds), and when mixed with lime, the hemp is hardened and chemically transformed into limestone carbonate captures that sequesters carbon.

I find this project absolutely fascinating! It is amazing how R&D mixed with innovation can create amazing thing for the environment and for business! Chateau Maris operated through a purely sustainable core! Apart form the hemp bricks, they use LED lighting, capture rainwater, recycle gray water and have future plans to incorporate wind and solar power with the goal of using 100% renewable energy. Their product has been very successful and their sales have been growing exponentially due to the growing demand for organic and sustainable products. Their wine bottles are made of recycled glass and have recycled paper labels. To top it all off, the company donates $1.50 from each bottle they sell to the Jane Goodall Institute, the Rainforest Foundation, or to the International Polar Foundation.

It is entrepreneurs like the owners of the Chateau Maris that truly inspire me and motivate me to help the the corporate world become sustainably driven! But most of all, their innovation, creativity proves that there are so many different alternatives and resources out there to become a better and greener business from the very core!

http://www.hemp.com/what-is-hemp/

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/03/19/winery-hemp-cellar

Most of you are probably familiar with the small frog logo you see on packages of various products. For those of you who aren’t, it is a Rainforest Alliance Certificate that is only awarded to products whose farms meet the rigorous sustainability criteria. The criteria address all of the three pillars of sustainability: environmental protection, social equity, and economic viability. Independent, third party expert auditors evaluate each farm in order to approve the Green Frog Seal.

The Rainforest Alliance started the Leapfrog Campaign in order to promote their work. They are building an ethical economy that benefits some of the most biologically diverse areas of the world by transforming the way the crops are grown, wood is harvested, and benefitting local communities and natural resources.

As part of the Leapfrog Campaign, Max Joseph, who has previously worked with brands such as Nike and Pepsi, wrote and directed this “Follow the Frog” ad in September of 2012.

In a clever way, the campaign’s video encourages consumers to refrain themselves from attempting to travel to the rainforest to save it, and rather to just buy the “follow the frog” campaign products. It reinforces the idea that as a consumer, helping to save the rainforest is not difficult, it just requires consumers to choose rainforest friendly products.

I personally found this ad extremely witty and clever. The power of the consumer is often underestimated, especially when looking at it in a consumer’s individual perspective. Most people believe that their own change in consumption is minimal in proportion to the rest of the world and therefore has no impact on the environment. This idea, however, is slowly changing and with campaigns like “Follow the Frog” consumers are reminded of their ability to influence corporations towards a more sustainable path.

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/leapfrog/multimedia

Marketing has made a clear and drastic change ever since the social media became a part of it. The idea of appealing and speaking to the masses is now possible in ways never imaginable before. Information travels so quickly that word of mouth techniques exponentially fired.

However companies are just very recently starting to take advantage of social media marketing benefits. There are still many corporations that resist jumping on this crazy digital mass marketing world.

“Consumers spend approximately 58 per cent of their time on digital globally, yet media spend within the [consumer packaged goods] industry is misaligned with how consumers spend their time (Mina Cass).”

Just four days after the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014 began; 26 million tweets had already been posted about the Games. The opportunity for the marketers is obvious!

As the digital world rises, power and energy increase a long with it. The amount of electricity that the world is consuming has increased drastically as we depend on it more and more. We are in a point now were we use our cellphone instead of money bills and I am sure this will continue to escalate.

However, even thought the digital media requires an extensive amount of energy, is this worse than the old fashioned way of advertising with billboards and posters?

I believe social media is becoming a part of sustainability and social responsibility. We are able to market goods and services digitally without the need of extensive damages. More importantly, we are becoming fully aware of what is going in the world as citizens and it is becoming very hard for companies to not be transparent about their values, procedures and actions. Corporations are being forced by the media to comply to certain sustainable, ethical and socially responsible measures. Consumers are demanding more and more and marketers are willing to give customers greener and ethical solutions as demanded.

“That kind of organic activity is particularly important for brands because social media has given consumers a platform to make their voices heard on the kind of mass scale that used to be reserved for media outlets or companies with the budgets to advertise widely. Now, the goal is to create something for a brand that people will like enough to share themselves; like word of mouth, but louder. Much louder (MIna Cass) ”.

I really believe marketing is changing for the better. Today consumers have a voice louder than ever and it is up to them to speak up and point big corporations on the right track to sustainable marketing.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/fresh-baked-tweets-from-the-oven/article17012472/