Early last year a dhow – a traditional East African sailing vessel – travelled over 500km south down the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania, calling in at nearly a half-dozen ports along the way.
It’s a trip made by many boats. However, the Flipflopi was a dhow with a difference. Rather than the traditional wooden construction, the 10-metre, seven-tonne vessel was made entirely from waste plastic collected on Kenya’s beaches.
The crew of the Flipflopi are partners of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Clean Seas campaign, which aims to encourage a movement among governments, the private sector and civil society away from single-use plastics and towards a circular supply chain.
A year-and-a-half on from its successful first trip, the Flipflopi is now embarking on another expedition, this time a voyage around Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.
“The rationale behind this is to take the message upstream,” explained Dipesh Pabari, co-founder of the Flipflopi project. He says more than 90 per cent of ocean plastics originate in eight major rivers, including the Nile, part of which begins in Lake Victoria.
Kenya is one of several countries in Africa that have, in recent years, stepped up their fight against plastic waste. Last month marked the three-year anniversary of the country’s stringent ban on single-use plastic bags. Last year, Kenya joined other nations to sign a global agreement to stop importing plastic waste, a move opposed by the chemicals industry. In June this year – following a presidential directive – Kenya banned other single-use plastics, from water bottles to disposable cutlery, in national parks, beaches, forests and conservation areas.
Despite these measures, however, plastic pollution remains a significant problem in the East African country, both on the coast, where the Flipflopi project supports local waste management initiatives, and on Lake Victoria. In just one clean-up almost five tonnes of plastic was collected on a 5km stretch of beach in Lamu, Kenya.
The lake, which spans three countries – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – supports over 40 million people. However, it has been under increased pressure from mismanaged waste and pollution, which has impacted the health of communities and threatened the survival of the lake.
“The Flipflopi expedition to Lake Victoria takes a simple but critical message to the attention of governments, local authorities, stakeholders and communities in the region – save Lake Victoria before it is too late,” said Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, UNEP’s director for Africa. “The destruction of this vital source of water means putting millions of peoples’ livelihoods at risk. We need to act urgently to reverse the environmental degradation that is having a grave impact on the lake and all those who rely on it.”
19 September was World Cleanup Day, an annual event to mark the global problem of solid waste. This year’s Cleanup Day also sees the release of a new animated film that tells the story of the Flipflopi. Celebrated Kenyan actor John Sibi-Okumu wrote and narrated the film, which was directed by award-winning animator Kwame Nyong’o.
Meanwhile, the Lake Victoria chapter in the Flipflopi journey will begin with the arrival of the boat at the KWS Impala Park in the Kenyan city of Kisumu on 22 September.
Over the next few months, local people will be encouraged to visit, to learn about the goals for the new voyage and to discover how the plastic dhow was built.
The larger parts – the keel, ribs and other structural elements – were constructed in a recycling factory south of Lamu from waste plastic, including containers, bags and even old shampoo bottles, which were compressed in steel moulds. The planks were made by extruding more recycled plastic and more than 30,000 abandoned flip-flops were used to line the hull.
Early in 2021 the vessel will complete a one-month voyage, first into Uganda and then Tanzanian waters.
“We’ll be hugging the coast because the middle of the lake is particularly notorious for very unpredictable winds and storms,” Pabari explained. “And the whole idea is to be as close to the people as possible. This is a story about the people. It’s not your classic expedition. We’re not a bunch of adventure explorers, on a personal challenge. Ultimately, our cause is the environment.”
On the first trip a second, regular wooden dhow trailed the Flipflopi in case of trouble. However, the team were pleased with how the plastic ship performed. The plastic construction is heavier than wood, so the dhow sat at the correct height in the water without the need for the large loads of ballast conventional dhows have to carry.
“She sails magically. We were shocked with just how well she sailed,” Pabari added.
Alongside UNEP, support for the venture is coming from AFD, the overseas development arm of the French government, which has been working on improving access to clean water for communities around Lake Victoria for the past two decades.
“As a regional actor, historically involved in Lake Victoria’s ecosystem preservation, it is only natural for AFD to support this key expedition,” said Christian Yoka, AFD East Africa Regional Director. “We have been working for 20 years with our Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian partners on a set of comprehensive solutions for the populations surrounding the lake to access clean water and to preserve the resource through research as well as investment in proper sanitation infrastructure. We believe that solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals entail collective and inclusive action carried out at the proper scale.”
