Last week, Kenya launched the world’s first 100% recycled marine plastic boat into the Indian Ocean. Under the ‘FlipFlopi’ project, the team used thousands of repurposed flip-flops and ocean plastic collected on beach clean-ups along the Kenyan coast for the construction of the prototype, highlighting the challenging extent of marine pollution.
After completion of trails at sea, the Flipflopi prototype will be embarking on a groundbreaking 500km expedition from Kenya’s Lamu island to Zanzibar in Tanzania. Departing early 2019, the team will be visiting schools, communities and government officials along the way – sharing messages on how to beat plastic pollution and contribute to conservation.
The Flipflopi Project has always been about encouraging change in a positive way, making people smile first and then sharing the very simple message that single-use plastics really don’t make sense. To create the Flipflopi boat we used only local available resources and low-tech solutions, enabling our techniques and ideas to be copied without any barriers. So, we hope people around the globe are inspired by our beautiful multicolored boat and find their own ways to repurpose ‘already-used’ plastics,
…said Ben Morison, Founder of the Flipflopi Project.
The problem of marine garbage has gained a risen momentum over the last years, with accumulation of plastic at sea harming marine life and significantly disrupting the global foodweb.
To address this risk, Kenya implemented last year the world’s most stringent law against plastic bags, with penalties for offenders reaching up to four years imprisonment and fines of $40,000, according to Reuters.
In line with this, the Flipflopi project was founded in 2016 by Ben Morison after witnessing the shocking quantities of plastic on Kenya’s beaches. Ben saw an opportunity to create something visually engaging and fun which would help communicate the impact and action on marine litter. By using only locally available resources and low-tech solutions in the creation of the Flipflopi Boat – the project has been able to demonstrate solutions that are scalable in local communities.
UN Environment commended the innovative way in which the FlipFlopi creates awareness of the issues around single-use plastics, in line with the successful global campaign to ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’, that was launched during World Environment Day 2018. The campaign brought together people around the world in their efforts to address the issue of plastic pollution on their shorelines, riverbeds and in their own communities.