Fashion: Beach-friendly sandals that aren’t flip flops

This weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend, which for many in Canada marks the official start of summer, which makes it the official start of cottage and beach season. And, for me, that means doing away with socks and closed toes shoes, and slipping into a pair of airy sandals. Rubber flip flops are the obvious and most prevalent choice of footwear for most beach-goers’they slip on and off easily, and sand and water roll right off them’but, they’re not exactly foot-friendly. Take a look at the article linked to here for all ways flip flops are damaging to your feet.

That’s why I’m loving the look of the sandals pictured above. The "Cavey" sandal from Mel, sister line to Brazilian footwear brand Melissa, are constructed from from a special sand- and water-friendly plastic called Melflex: It is a malleable plastic developed by the brand that is completely recycleble, breathes well, and is hypoallergenic and odorless. The molded sole is more contoured to the foot than the flat slab of a flip flop. The added straps across the front of the foot and around the back of heel give extra support by holding the shoe on your foot, the delicate muscles in your feet can relax instead of tensing to hold the shoe on as with flip flops. Plus, the fun colour options (along with the bright red shown above, they also come in vibrant yellow, bright blue, and shiny black, below) and faux-"stud" details are right on trend for summer.

What’s more, since the sandals are made entirely of the "Melflex" plastic without any added materials, they’re 100% recyclable, and vegan-friendly. Best of all? All of the brand’s plastic shoes are created with a zero waste ethos: The company recycles 99.9% of factory water and waste, and they even recycle overstock styles into next season’s collection by melting down and remolding the plastic into new shoes. Neat, huh?

(Cavey sandals by Mel, $40 at Little Burgundy.)