- This is the first step in informing the development of locally grown circular economies, as well as understanding the real impact of the massive waste on the local environment.
- In May 2021, Flipflopi completed a two-month plastic pollution expedition in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Image: CHETI PRAXIDES
The Flipflopi, a dhow made entirely from recycled plastic waste, has set sail on a scientific expedition of Lamu.
The expedition is intended to map the extent of plastic pollution on the remote archipelago.
The dhow took off from Lamu island on Monday and is headed to mangroves, beaches and towns in all the 35 islands in the region.
This is the first step in informing the development of locally grown circular economies, as well as understanding the impact of massive waste on the local environment.
Flipflopi project co-founder Ali Skanda, explained that over the next ten days, the crew of over 20 will be carrying out the scientific research.
He said the findings will enable the group gain international consensus to help beat plastic pollution globally.
“We will also be establishing ways to reduce the flow of plastics into the ocean and finding practical solutions to remove vast quantities of plastics on beaches and in the mangroves,” Skanda said.
Skanda said the expedition also marks the start of a larger project with partners to sought viability of creating a sustainable community-led waste management system to create jobs and tackle climate change.
The crew will also investigate the presence of micro-plastic and microfibres in the Indian Ocean in Lamu.
The voyage which kicked off on 21st to March 1st, is also meant to collect and analyse data with the view of allowing them to have a holistic overview of the most common types of plastic waste, their source and how they end up polluting the archipelago which is a key tourist attraction to Lamu.
Skanda reiterated that the seas and shores around the Lamu Archipelago are chocking from plastic pollution due to the nature of the currents.
The Flipflopi as an organisation has been responsible for organising annual beach clean-ups.
They have managed take off approximately 35 to 40 tonnes of plastic waste on the 12-kilometre beach each year.
“To effectively address the marine plastic pollution problem, it is critical to have a better understanding of the problem, as well as how factors such as tides influence the volume and dispersion of plastic,” Skanda said.
“It is critical to show the value and spirit of innovation and the importance that Lamu has as a centre of global heritage and how our culture is linked to the health of our environment."
Skanda indicated that the expedition is the beginning of a long-term vision for closing the loop on post-consumer plastics across Lamu.
She said the findings from this expedition will be used to establish the extent of marine plastics, identify key plastic hotspots to mitigate plastic pollution.
“We will be listening to community members to understand how waste plastic is affecting them and co creating practical solutions for collecting waste plastics in isolated areas," he said.
He said such connections will bolster the existing community waste management outreach programmes to restore the natural beauty of Lamu.
“Though Lamu is just the beginning we believe this model can be widely replicated in coastal communities across the world,” he said.
In May 2021, Flipflopi completed a two-month plastic pollution expedition in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
The expedition was aimed at creating awareness of plastic pollution on freshwater sources and pushing for the banning of single-use plastics in the region.
The first Flipflopi was made in 2017 covered by 30,000 multicoloured plastic.
In 2018, the Flipflopi completed its first ground-breaking expedition, sailing for over 500km from Lamu to Zanzibar and Tanzania.
Image: CHETI PRAXIDES