Our Mission
Here at Chipkos, we believe that sandals have the power to protect more than just your feet.
For every pair of Chipkos Original Sandals that you buy, Chipkos will conserve 100 square feet of an endangered rain forest.
Why Save Rain Forests?
Unconventional in design, Chipkos Original Sandals are intended to make a statement. Inspired by an indigenous Indian kolhapuri style, Chipkos boldly break the norms, challenging the standard round-shaped flop.
Our fans belong to a forward-thinking group of active changemakers. They choose to express their uniqueness among a world filled with ordinary options, and are not afraid to think differently for the sake of progress.
Our goal is to conserve 100,000,000 square feet of endangered forest, one square foot at a time. Join us in our movement to protect these endangered habitats, while we still can.
What We’re Saving
These are actual photos taken from the Costa Rican rain forest where are efforts are currently focused. Over half of the earth’s plants and animals live in the rain forest. Saving these habitats results in saving species from extinction.
http://cdn.chipkos.com/slide/CostaRica.phpHow We Do It
Chipkos is dedicated to a holistic and actionable approach to save rain forest land. We work directly with our field partners to allocate funds and support on a continual basis.
Our current conservation efforts are primarily focused in Guanacaste Costa Rica, one of the most diverse and threatened habitats on earth.
Purchase and Protect 100 Square Feet – Much like adding land to Yosemite, your conserved 100 square feet is added to an existing national park. Guanacaste is home to one of most endangered species on earth, the jaguar. Chipkos funds ongoing habitat protection programs so that jaguars and other animals are able to roam free on land with a reduced threat of illegal hunting.
Community Enrichment – A portion of Chipkos donations goes towards hiring indigenous Costa Rican community members to be park rangers, staff and educators of Guanacaste. By paying fair wages to local residents, Chipkos offers alternative income producing opportunities that work with the environment, instead of against it. Chipkos also funds the education of the children of Costa Rica on the importance of maintaining fragile ecosystems. Every 5th grader living within 50 miles of Guanacaste has been visited by an educator to talk about conservation. Chipkos believes that educating our children is a vital step to protecting our shared future.
Additional future conservation sites for Chipkos: Costa Rica; Corcovado National Park-Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica; Pantanal National Park, Brazil; Chagres National Park, Panama; Kunene Region Protected Area, Namibia, Africa. Our efforts are made possible with the support of partner, SaveNature.Org, a non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to preserving fragile ecosystems by providing opportunities for personal, direct action to protect natural habitats around the world.
Our Efforts
We believe that it’s our duty to create products that you love in a socially and environmentally responsible way. We are proud of our Four Tier approach to produce a lighter footprint on the planet:
Tier 1 – Materials and Practices: Chipkos Original sandals are made from low impact, environmentally friendly materials including recycled EVA and rubber for the outsoles and midsoles, sustainable raffia fiber foot beds, and non-toxic water based adhesives.
Tier 2 – Contribution: For every pair we sell, Chipkos will donate enough funds to conserve 100 square feet of an endangered forest, in addition to contributing towards community enrichment programs.
Tier 3 – Packaging: We use 100% recycled materials for our product tags instead of virgin cardboard. Instead of using shoe boxes, we ship your sandals to you in an eco-friendly, reusable shoe bag.
Tier 4 – Shipping: For each pair bought, Chipkos makes a carbon offset donation to reduce our overall carbon footprint on the planet.
Even our work environment has been specially engineered to minimize environmental strain. We are a near paperless company, and our office is solar powered.
Our Roots
The word ‘chipko’ is of Indian origin, and literally means ‘to stick’. The Chipko Movement was a historic environmental effort that first took place in the foothills of the Himalayas of India in 1790AD. Indigenous villagers protested against the logging of their land by literally attaching themselves to their trees. They were, in a sense, the original ‘tree huggers’.
http://cdn.chipkos.com/slide/ChipkoMovement.phpThe Chipko Movement brought a new found awareness of nature preservation to the people of India and throughout the world. It was one of the first environmental group efforts ever recorded, and serves as the inspiration for many current green causes, groups and campaigns.
The movement still exist today in several pockets of the Himalayan region of India.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Original Chipko Movement was Ahimsa, a sanskrit word meaning “non-violent resistance”. No matter how passionate they were about saving their land, members of the Original Chipko Movement were always peaceful in their actions, and never resorted to violent protest. Shop our Chipkos Ahimsa Wrist Cuffs which celebrate these efforts. Hand made in India by local artisans, each Ahimsa wrist cuffs tells the story of the local artisan who crafted it.
Chipkos sandals are a throwback to the Osho, an ethnic slipper originating during the liberal 1960’s ashram scene of India. Oshos recently resurged in India into an underground street fad, and have since gained mainstream popularity among the trendy Indian pop culture circles. In India, Oshos represent a connection with the Earth, spiritual awareness, and mindful thought.
Message From The Founder
Chipkos is the culmination of many facets of my life including my love of nature, my personal travels, and the desire to find my avenue to make a positive difference in this world. The idea for Chipkos began to form in 2010 on a personal journey through India. Through a purely chance encounter, I learned about the Chipko Movement, a historical event which helped bring awareness to the importance of environmental preservation in India and beyond.
While in India, I bought a pair of Kolhapuri Chappal sandals. Square in the front and somewhat unique in style and shape, Kolhapuris have been worn in India for centuries. They are a large part of the culture, and have even inspired new, offshoot styles such as the cult classic Osho Chappal sandal. An underground street fad that has gained mainstream popularity, Oshos were originally designed off the Kolhapuri by spiritual followers in the ashram scene of India in the 1960s. A few American celebrities joined the trend and brought back a pair to the U.S. from India. Whether they were the original style of the ancient civilization or inspiration for the new fad, Kolhapuris have always brought masses of people together with one, unifying design.
My travels then led me to Jamaica. I spent a lot of time exploring the country’s tropical climate. On one particular excursion, I was saddened to hear that most of Jamaica’s rain forest habitat had already been destroyed permanently due to slash and burn agriculture, a controversial and extremely destructive method of deforestation.
When I came back to California, I was inspired to learn more about the problem of deforestation not only in Jamaica, but also throughout the world. I never understood how problematic the issue was until I did the research for myself. I had always felt a general concern for the environment, but I now felt a sense of urgency to be an agent of change.
I knew that people were concerned about the environment, and I wanted to channel that concern into productive action. Most things that we do to help the environment are reactive, yet protecting rain forest land before it was tarnished seemed refreshingly proactive to me.
I knew that if I was able to bring enough awareness to the issue, people would take a stand and create a momentum for change. The Chipko Movement was so inspiring to me. I loved the idea of a small, grassroots movement which builds into a mainstream campaign. The popularity of the Kolhapuris inspired me to use worldly and ethnic trends as the social medium for that change. Use Chipkos as your voice, as your badge of awareness, and as your opportunity to contribute towards a better tomorrow.
Priya Dua
Chief Nature Ambassador
STAND FOR THE PLANET
Click the Link below “Stand for the Planet” for Chipkos Items.
