everydaytrash » whaling

Flip flop round up

Leila Darabi — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:03:24 +0000

This unconsumption post on upcycled flip flops reminded me of a story I read in 2007 about Kenyan women building a giant whale out of the old slippers that washed up in their fishing villages. I recommend watching the BBC video on the project, it’s an amazing example of political art. I especially like the whale because, as I’ve mentioned here before, the flip flop jewelry and key chains I’ve seen are all overpriced and, in my personal opinion, not that cute. I do, however, love the way sun faded bits of flip flop add character to things sculpted out of them. There’s something whimsical about the material, which I think you get from the Studio Schneemann pieces in the unconsumption link; and, of course, evident in the everydaytrash.com official mascot, P.C. the Flip Flop Rhino.

P.C.

A company called UniquEco made P.C. Or rather, Kenyan women made him and UniquEco put a snazzy label on his belly and made sure he was available for purchase at my favorite women’s collective shop in Kampala. UniquEco are based in Kenya and also have a life-sized whale made from washed up flip flops, which makes me think they may be connected to the original story.

In the U.S. TerraCycle and Old Navy are launching a campaign called Flip Flop Replay whereby you can drop your old flip flops off at Old Navy and TerraCycle will collect them and recycle them into play grounds. At first I thought that meant play ground mats. Then I saw the picture below. I don’t always love TerraCycle’s projects, but this one is just cool.

via TerraCycle

“They don’t rot, they don’t break down and they float—forever.”

Leila Darabi — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:20:52 +0000

Kenyan fishermen and the World Society for the Protection of Animals are building a giant whale sculpture out of the endless stream of discarded flip flops that get caught up in fishing nets. The partners hope the end product—pieced together with the help of local women who have long been recycling flip flops into local handicrafts to sell back to tourists—will serve as a massive pro-environment, anti-whaling symbol.

For updates and to sign a petition of your solidarity, check out Whale Watch.

Via the power combo of an everydaytrash tipster and the BBC online.

sustainable whaling

Leila Darabi — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 04:27:10 +0000

The government of Iceland claims it can hunt whales, sell the meat to Japan, rinse and repeat. Greenpeace is accusing Icelandic whalers of stockpiling whale meat and hording the blubber like blood diamonds, creating a false sense of mystique and demand. Having only read the Greenpeace press release on this issue and no third party coverage, all I can say is “sustainable whaling” just doesn’t sound very credible. There’s not even a wikipedia entry on the “subject”.