The new summer lifestyle hit has arrived: Plakkies, the first sustainable flip-flops made from old tires. On May 14, the first Plakkies went on sale in stores. ‘Plakkies’ is the African word for flip-flops.
Delen
TU Delft students have set up a unique and socially responsible flip-flop factory, in partnership with the KidsRights foundation, in the slums of Durban, South Africa. With this initiative, the students not only created jobs for the chanceless residents of the slums, but also a funky, sustainable designer flip-flop, which everyone wants to be seen wearing this summer.
The sole of the Plakkies is made from old tires. These old tires are usually dumped and illegally burned, which is incredibly damaging for the environment. Shoe designer Jan Jansen and students from the TU Delft’s Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering designed the Plakkies, so that the old tires could be reused. The colourful patterns on the flip-flops were designed by orphans in the slums of Durban.
By now, more than seventy uneducated, mainly HIV-infected people work in the Plakkies factory. Thanks to these jobs, they can pay for their own living expenses, as well as support ten other people in their immediate surroundings. 100% of the profit made on the Plakkies goes to the employees of the Plakkies factory and to other KidsRights projects in South Africa.
On May 13, the Plakkies’ kick-off party was held on the busy Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam, where various Dutch celebrities presented the flip-flops in a fashion show.
The Plakkies are available in the following colours: purple night, cool grey and hot pink for women, and denim blue and brown sun for men. They are on sale for €39.95 at the Bijenkorf, America Today, Dr. Adams, Sacha, Open 32, Five Pocket, The Stone and online at www.bijenkorf-webshop.nl.
Dijkstra was jarenlang universitair hoofddocent en onderwijscoördinator binnen de afdeling Delft Center for Systems and Control van de faculteit Werktuigbouwkunde, Maritieme Techniek en Materiaalkunde (3mE). Hij leidde vele generaties studenten op.
Hij leverde belangrijke bijdragen aan de regeltechniek en was onder andere vakgroepbeheerder en secretaris van de ondernemingsraad.
Naast deze professionele activiteiten was hij actief binnen verschillende maatschappelijke organisaties, waaronder Amnesty International en De Wereldwinkel. Dijkstra ontving de koninklijke onderscheiding uit handen van de heer Van Vliet, burgemeester van Lansingerland.
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