This awesome hippo sculpture is just one of the creative products crafted by UniqueEco artisans from recycled flip flops. Priced to provide a fair wage to collectors and sculptors, each hippo reflects the colorful personalities of coastal Kenyan people.

Along the Kenyan coastline near Kiunga Marine National Reserve, an ocean current drags a bevy of discarded flip flops and other garbage onto the beach. Apart from being unsightly, the garbage poses a threat to turtles that come to the reserve to lay and hatch their eggs.

A local health worker seeking to supplement the diets of local Kenyans and a biologist seeking a sustainable way to clean up the marine ecosystem struck upon an exciting idea. By employing the local youth to collect reusable debris from the beaches and women to turn the debris into marketable products, both needs could be met.

And so, UniqueEco was born. Today, UniqueEco maintains a close working relationship with over 100 women and 20 youth in the Kiungu National Reserve Area in Lamu. Together, the workers and principles of UniqueEco create beautiful contemporary gifts while cleaning up one of Kenya's most beautiful shorelines.