“My Quest is to rid the Indian Ocean of plastic while creating both social and economic opportunity out of the collected waste and create jobs for the local community. ”

Ocean Sole Africa is a social enterprise whose mission is to highlight litter by removing flip-flops from our oceans and waterways. For more than 3 billion people on the planet, flip-flops are the only available footwear.

After about a year of use, they get discarded and end up along the beaches and waterways in Kenya. We work with locals to collect the flip-flops and transform them into unique, hand-carved animal sculptures ranging in size from a keychain to life-size.

I think we underestimate what we can bring to the table…I think it’s working through what is that passion and knowing you can make a difference.

Erin is the CEO of Ocean Sole.