Splaff Creates Recycled Shoes and Accessories with Style

Treading Gently on the Earth

There ís no doubt that the market for environmentally conscious products is huge and growing ñ according to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, nearly half of American adults have bought a product because it was advertised as environmentally safe or biodegradable. But for anyone who doesn’t identify as a hardcore environmentalist, a quick look at the available eco-fashion alternatives is a bit disappointing: scratchy hemp clothing, uncomfortable shoes, and frumpy styling. Before you give up on eco-fashion and head for the department store though, take a look at Splaff. Started by surfer and ocean-lover Cliff Drill in 1995, the Splaff line of flip-flops, sandals, belts, bags, and yoga accessories is a fashion-conscious eco-shopper’s dream.

According to Drill, long-time environmentalist, he created Splaff because “I wanted to make eco-conscious products using discarded materials that had style and durability. I don’t think you should have to pay $5 more for an environmental product that isn’t as good as its non-environmental competitor.” Drill and his business partner Craig Wallace both have an extreme sports background, so they knew they importance of creating products that perform and look cool.

Splaff’s huarache-inspired flip-flops and sandals come in a variety of contemporary styles. The soles are cut from recycled car tires. The mid-sole padding, which provides cushion, is made from reground tire rubber. And the straps are made from used bicycle inner tubes. Natural hemp fabric covers the foot bed on several models and is used to line the straps for comfort. Splaff’s hemp-lined belts, also created from recycled bike tubes, are highlighted with white stitching and sport chunky metal buckles. Even the hemp purses and tote bags (replete with bicycle tube straps) have an undeniably urban industrial look. All the recycled materials are collected, sorted, cleaned, and cut in house at their San Diego facility. Drill says “We do a lot of hard work in handling and preparing the recycled raw materials before we can even think about making something out of them.”

Drill got the inspiration for his first product while surfing in Central and South America. He’d always been of an environmental mindset so the tire shoes he kept seeing (called huaraches in Mexico) intrigued him. He bought numerous pairs, even though they kept falling apart, were uncomfortable and were crude in their design. Then he asked himself the fatal question: “couldn’t someone make these better?” Mom was disappointed when he left his sales job to make tire shoes in her garage, but Drill had a vision. Eight years later, he’s kept tens of thousands of tires and several tons of bike tubes out of landfills. Not to mention all the virgin materials he’s saved by offering consumers an alternative to conventional sandals, bags, and belts, predominately made from leather.

In keeping with Drill’s commitment to conscious operations, Splaff maintains a clean and healthy working environment for all of its employees. The footwear industry traditionally uses toxic primers and cements that give off hazardous emissions, creating an unhealthy environment for anyone working around them. These toxic products also cause damage to the planet. Drill researched and developed a water-based cement to stay true to the company’s environmental mission. The Splaff workplace is so hazard-free that no gloves or respirators are required in the manufacturing process.

Coming full circle, the company creates no waste that ends up in landfills: “We throw nothing out,” Drill says. “Anything that’s left over we use for packaging.” That means when the sheets of tire tread become too small to cut any more soles from, Splaff makes display hangers from the scraps. When those pieces become too small to make hangers, the rest is ground up and pressed for use in manufacturing the mid-sole. Even the rubber bands that are used to package the shoes together are made from pieces of bicycle tubes that were too short for turning into belts or sandal straps.

With emphasis on design, comfort, and durability, as well as fierce attention to the environment, Splaff helps eco-consumers tread softly on the earth in style.