Subs is a flip-flop company from New Zealand. We aim to prevent and reduce plastic waste by transforming it into high-performance, recycled plastic flip-flops.
Subs flip-flops are super comfy to wear, highly durable, upcyclable and environmentally friendly!
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Our flip-flops, tote & satchel bag range are made of recycled plastic sourced partly from beach cleans, post-consumer waste plastic, plus commercial and industrial plastic waste recycling, and we pledge to remove one kilo (2.20 lb) of marine debris from our ocean ecosystems for every pair sold.
Our impact to date: 368,858 lb of debris removed from our ocean ecosystems.
Plastic waste that is otherwise bound for landfills is one of the main components of recycled plastic that we currently source for Subs' jandals, totes & satchels, mostly coming from commercial, post-consumer, industrial plastic waste, and some that we recover directly from the ocean.
The plastic that we recover from our beach cleaning efforts that is recyclable is sent for sorting and further processing by third-party companies and combined with commercial and industrial plastic waste from sources such as hospitals (vinyl gloves), construction (wire casing and pipes) which is all processed together in a circular economy to make Subs formula pellets ready for injection moulding.
We use RPVC (recycled PVC) & RPCU (recycled PCU) in our flip-flops and RPET (recycled PET) in our bags.
Upcycle your Subs flip-flops.
When your Subs are worn out beyond use, and that will take ages, you can send them back to us for upcycling.
We have the ability to take old pairs, grind them up into pellets again, put them back through the plastic injection machinery and make brand new pairs.
Now, that's what we call sustainable!
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Subs are manufactured in Taiwan, R.O.C., by our production team, which includes a few Kiwis to oversee quality control.
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Soles: Subs' sole formula ensures that you get both durability and comfort.
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As soon as you start wearing your Subs flip-flops they will quickly mold to your feet, providing you with sturdy, long-lasting comfort.
You will have a soft cushion of comfort with every step you take. Our tapered footbed guarantees you some extra durability where it's needed most in the heel.
Straps: Our flip-flop straps are designed and positioned so that you will not experience any irritation between your toes.
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The plugs are strong and durable as well, meaning that they will not easily blow out on you.
Performance: Subs flip-flops perform extremely well in wet conditions and off the beaten track situations too. The design on both the top and bottom of the soles allows you to get a great grip on any surface you happen to traverse in your adventures.
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Subs soles and straps are 100% SGS certified. That means that the materials we use have been tested and meet health, safety, and regulatory standards. Subs are totally safe to wear against your skin.
Subs flip-flops use 100% recycled & recyclable materials. All of our packaging is made from recycled materials too, that includes boxes, swing tags, and hangers.
Our story starts in Kyle, Mid Canterbury, New Zealand in the late 1980s, where we grew up on a farm with cliffs overlooking the South West Pacific Ocean.
Back then it was clear to us how our beaches were being affected by plastic waste, with fish and bird corpses constantly washing up ashore, mixed in with plastic waste from fishing nets, bottles and caps.
Now, this problem affects the entire world and its food supply, with an estimated 5.2 trillion pieces of plastic in the world's oceans, of which 269,000 tons float on the surface.
Plastic pieces outnumber sea life in 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' by 6 to 1.
Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals and more than 1 million seabirds die each year from ocean pollution, and plastic ingestion, or entanglement in plastic debris.
After being in the footwear industry for 7 years we realised we were in a position to do something about this, and the idea was born to create a product that could sustain the reduction of plastic in our ocean ecosystems, and recycled plastic in general, by using that plastic as footwear.
Join us in taking some steps for the ocean!
There are five main concentrations of plastic, known as the 'gyres', the largest being estimated twice the size of Texas.
The level of innovation here is also impressive: regenerating marine debris degraded by the sun and wind and ocean currents is no mean feat.
Turning ocean plastic into something we actually wear to the beach.
Volunteering helps their activities in order to stop the marine pollution. It's ok to pick up garbage on your own and think about the environment.
At first glance they look like any other jandal. But the plastic in your Subs' jandal sole could have once been floating in the ocean as plastic pollution.
Environmentally conscious brand Subs have worked out a way to transform plastic pollution into a solution… flip flops, or thongs as they call them in Australia. These guys walk the walk and run all sorts of awesome initiatives including marine debris clean ups. The range of colours – yellow, pink blue, green to name but a few – and choice between regular and slender means subs are slowly taking over the world and should really be on your feet too.
For every pair of jandals sold, they pledge to remove half a kilogram of plastic from the oceans. And when the jandals themselves wear out, customers can simply send them back to Subs. They'll be ground up into pellets and go through the whole manufacturing process again. It's a completely circular process. "Although we haven't had any sent back yet – perhaps we've made them too well," Andrew jokes.
