To all who came out to the Santa Barbara Earth Day festival last weekend, it was great to see you and thanks for celebrating with us! We have one more event coming up this weekend: a beach cleanup & BBQ. We will be cleaning up Ocean Beach in three different locations with the SF Chapter of the Surfrider...

Good day, mate! I'm Kai and I handle Indosole's production in Indonesia as well as manage distribution and logistics in Southeast Asia and Australia. I recently had the opportunity to go Down Under. It was our first time introducing Indosole to Australia, which was pretty exciting. I did a loop to meet retailers, make friends, and see the sights. Planes, trains, and automobiles... You name it, I used it. It was great to meet up with so many special people. Two in particular, Mitch Sargent and his fiancée Alana Beales, took me in as one of their own, and Mitch expressed interest in helping Indosole grow in Australia. My thoughts were, "There's no better time than now. Let's do this!" We started at Byron Bay, going around and seeing the shops. I was set up at Byron Market for a day and it was nice to see the market visitors stoked on Indos! I also had the chance to catch up with our friends Salt Gypsy and The Drifter Blog, and got to meet the folks behind Thrills Co. The vibe in Byron is great--it was very warm, like an extension of our community. Next was Ballina, where I met Mitch's family who have a warehouse there, and then on to the WSL Comp at Snapper Rocks. I met with my good friend Scotty Hammonds who was shooting the comp for Surfing Magazine and he let us tag along to an interview with Josh Kerr to tour his brewery Balter. Kerr partnered with Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson & Bede Durbidge to make this Gold Coast brewery a reality and I can confidently say... the beer is good!     Then it was on to Sydney to meet with an established sales rep named Ray Blaikie and tour the shops along the Sydney beaches, in particular Manly. There I met with some rad peeps making surfboard fins out of milk carton tops. Yet another creative solution to waste! I continued to Noosa Heads, QLD, for the Noosa Longboard Fest and then headed back to the comp for the last couple days. All in all, it was a great trip. The sights were rad and the people even more so. I'm definitely planning on being back soon, so if you're in Australia and interested in a meeting feel free to email me directly at kai@indosole.com or contact Mitch Sargent at mitch@thegivingcollective.co. Cheers, mate!

A warm welcome goes out to the newest members of the Indosole Good Human Crew, Melati and Isabel Wijsen of Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB)! The sisters (pictured at center) founded a social initiative that has been making massive strides towards a plastic bag-free Bali since its inception. It is always inspiring to see the youth care deeply about a cause, but these young ladies really take it to another level. It's non-stop for them--from organizing beach cleanups to attending conferences to giving a global TED Talk--all while being students at the Green School. They continue to blow us away with their hard work, achievements, perseverance, and leadership of their crew of volunteers. To learn more about Melati, Isabel, and the activities of BBPB, read their Good Human profile here.

As we wave goodbye to winter and begin to greet spring, we thought it the perfect opportunity to look back at the 2015/2016 winter season. We connected with Trevor Rowedder, an up-and-coming big wave surfer who surfs right at the end of Noriega Street by Indosole HQ/ Church of Surf. He had a killer season at Mavericks and experienced a massive wipeout that definitely put things into perspective. More on that in our Q & A below:How long have you been surfing Mavericks?This winter of 2015/2106 was my second season out at Mavericks. I wanted to dedicate this winter to putting in as much time out there as possible, and gain as much experience as I could. What's the most intimidating thing about Mavs?Mavs is scary for so many different reasons. The wave itself is really much more hollow than I think anyone realizes, especially if they haven't seen it in person. For me, though, on a good big day out there the crowd is the most intimidating. At 20 years old I’m sitting next to guys that I had posters of hanging on my wall as a kid. On top of that you’re jockeying to be in right spot to catch a wave. There are so many guys willing to send it on the biggest waves of the day. You have to really want it. Could you explain the feeling of big wave surfing for someone who's never done it before?There’s more to it than putting your head down and paddling into a big wave. You have a community of guys out there that all share a passion for the ocean and surfing. Everyone watches out for each other in the water. Even though guys are charging harder than ever before, it’s important that everyone gets to go home at the end of the day and I think that’s the attitude out there. How was the El Nino experience?It’s been a marathon. Waxing up a 9’6 gun multiple times a month for 4 months in a row is something that doesn’t happen very often. I still get butterflies every time; it’s impossible to get jaded when it comes to surfing Mavericks. Guys made their careers in big wave surfing the last time an El Nino happened, so I wanted to try and capitalize on every session I could.How do you handle wipeouts? How does it affect your outlook on life?I took a pretty brutal wipeout at Mavs and I’m just starting to feel 100% healthy again. I turned on what I thought was a really good wave--having caught a steep one about an hour earlier my confidence was high. It also happened to be right around lunchtime and I had already been in the water for 3 hours so I really wanted to get to the channel to recharge with some food. When I turned around for it I took a couple hard strokes just to take a sniff at it. I heard some of the boys call out for me to go from the shoulder, so I put my head down and paddled as hard as I could. The offshore winds were stiff and I was totally blinded by the spray as I jumped up. Soon as my feet hit the wax I felt the wind under me, by the time I could actually see, my board had turned into an airplane wing and sailed me out into mid-air.When I reconnected with the face of the wave my board just stopped and I flew forward slapping the water, which felt like concrete. I actually bruised my kidney pretty bad. I went weightless for what felt like forever, and got sucked over the falls. The impact was so violent it almost knocked all the wind out of me. I struggled to even be able to pull in either of my arms close enough to my body to inflate my vest while being rag dolled. Eventually I was able to pull one of the chords, but still ended up being held under for two whole waves. Vest fully inflated. I came up pretty disoriented with a grade 2 concussion, and I am so thankful for the guys on the skis out there. They put themselves at risk just make sure we’re safe. I got picked up just seconds before the third wave.You have to prepare yourself mentally for the possibility of that happening, but when it does it's pretty terrifying. When something like that happens you look at day-to-day life a little differently. No decision I make on a normal day at school or work is going to be life or death. It puts a lot of things in perspective. Click here for a taste of Trevor's season at Mavs: https://vimeo.com/156797641 Video: Powerlines Production. Photos: Dave Nelson, Pedro Bala.

If you follow us on social media, you may have already read about our contest with Free & Easy Traveler (FNEZ) that is running until March 17. Yes, a free trip to Bali & the Gili Islands plus a prize pack from Indosole in exchange for posting a selfie on Instagram is very exciting, but what's even better is the fact that the winner will travel with a company that we love, which shares our belief that we as travelers should do our best to protect and give back to the places we visit. There are a number of Global Initiatives that FNEZ travelers can get involved in, ranging from beach clean ups to minimizing plastic waste to volunteering with local communities. FNEZ as a company also supports organizations that protect children from exploitation and ensure ethical animal treatment, not to mention they are on the way to eliminating their carbon footprint completely! Read more on their website and don't forget to enter the selfie contest--there's a week left to tag @fnez and use #FindYourSelfie to see if you win the chance to visit beautiful Indonesia.

We are teaming up with our friends Bureo to give away over $200 worth of goodies to two lucky winners! Each person will receive: a Bureo skate deck made from recycled fishing nets (retail value: $65), a Bureo Klean Kanteen to stay hydrated while refraining from using plastic bottles ($29), an Indosole canvas bag lined with repurposed rice sacks ($25), an Indo trucker hat ($20), and a pair of JJ shoes (Men's or Women's) featuring Indosole's signature repurposed tire soles ($65). Entering the giveaway is easy. All you have to do is head to Instagram and follow @indosole and @bureo, tag three friends, and leave a comment on who inspires you to take care of the environment. We'll choose the lucky winners on February 5th so check both feeds for updates. Good luck!

We are thrilled to be included in this article published by Fortune on Social Entrepreneurship, alongside companies such as Mission Belt, which donates $1 to Kiva to issue microloans in developing countries, and LSTN, where every purchase of headphones helps someone hear for the first time. Out of the various types of social entrepreneurial businesses explained, Indosole was used as an example of "companies that transform a community."  We love the opening of the article: "We millennials are a bold generation. From our insistence that work have meaning to the disruptive innovations we embrace (e.g. Lyft), we are dramatically shifting the future of this planet. Our enduring legacy will be the expectation that business do well for the world."To read on, click here.  Here's to more businesses doing well for the world!

The Kota high top is modern tire sole footwear at it's finest! The ladies love it for its versatility, and we often see them styled to toughen up an otherwise "girly" outfit. Guys love the Kota because of how easy it is to throw them on without having to think twice about it. Not to mention, the handy zipper makes the Kota easy to slip on and off, which everyone can appreciate. From cycling to skateboarding to park strolling, this shoe is perfect for life in the city. Learn more about this shoe's unique materials and features below. Don't forget to search the hashtag #KotaHightop on Instagram to see how people are styling their Kotas!  

We are hitting the road... and the next stop is Facebook HQ in Menlo Park! Our pop-up shop will be open to Facebook employees this Tuesday, January 19, 2016. We are really looking forward to bringing our #SolesWithSoul and introducing them to the FB community. Do you friends who are working at 1 Hacker Way? Let them know we'll be headed there soon with lots of product to choose from!