Recycled Flip Flop Earrings

Four beautiful islands comprise the Lamu Archipelago off the coast of Kenya. Home to a variety of marine wildlife, including three species of sea turtle that come to the northernmost island of Kiwayu to nest, Lamu is both a popular tourist destination and a unique marine environment.

As flip flops from around the world began washing up onto Lamu's beaches and decreased tourism started to result in malnourished diets, locals Julie Church and Tahreni Bwaanali created UniquEco, a company that pays fair wages to locals who clean up the beaches and transform flip flops into these wearable works of art.