How Jandals are Made

Jandals are made of the same substance as tyres and gumboots – rubber. The process behind transforming the naturally sticky substance tapped from trees into footwear is called vulcanisation.

Unvulcanised rubber is made of long molecules built of carbon and hydrogen bonds which move around each other as a liquid. When treated high temperature and the all important ingredient, sulfur some of the bonds in the polymers are broken and replaced with sulfur which then joins with the other polymers in a process called cross linking.

Vulcanised rubber can’t be transformed into its original state which presents an environmental problem. How can you get rid of something that isn’t biodegradable? Rubber car tyres take up a lot of space in landfills and can be a fire hazard, plus there is the possibility that it can leach toxic chemicals into the surrounding area.

Next time you slip on your jandals and drive to the beach think about the irreversible chemical process that went into making your shoes and wheels and consider what happens when they are worn out and thrown out.