YT - UniquEco Video

Today, I am discussing UniquEco Video, a short documentary posted on YouTube on the 9 April 2008.  It was produced by Hey Miss K Productions and directed by Kristian Ruggiari.  Those speakers featured include Julie Church, Ali Bwanamusa and UniquEco Artists.  Finally, the documentary is introducing UniquEco - The (flip flop) Recycling Company.

This short documentary is a good introduction to a great initiative in East Africa; it introduces UniquEco, a company in Kenya.  This company salvages flip flops that wash up on the coast, as well as those found in the slums of Nairobi, then uses them to create various things.  Some creations are purely art (eg sculptures and other decorations), while others are artsy pieces that can be used in everyday life (jewellery, placemats, bottle stoppers, etc).

UniqEco has found a way to use our waste, diverting it from our landfills.  The point was made that they will never run out of flip flops.  As a group that weeks to prevent waste, we do recognize that there are some things that will likely always be used, such as flip flops.  Because of this, how do we prevent this waste?  First, we must create more sustainable flip flops, in a material that is biodegradable.  Second, those flip flops that are still not biodegradable must be created into something else, such as in the way UniqEco does.  Remember that most of our waste can be thought of in this way, we just need to be more creative, something that the UniquEco artists have done.

One point that was made is that they are only making a difference in Africa, nowhere else.  This is not true.  It may not be immediately recognizable elsewhere, but Earth is a system and waste affects that system, thereby affecting people in all regions.  By taking flip flops from the coast and making usable items with them, we have that much less waste in our oceans (remember was discussed on the 30 April 2012).  By taking waste from the slums, we have that much less in those landfills, which greatly affect soils and the atmosphere.  By helping the local economy, more faith can go into the idea that less people need to live in poverty than the system would like us to believe.  On that line, these art pieces are an income that costs absolutely nothing to create.