Flipflopi - the world’s first recycled plastic sailing dhow moves from source to the sea as it expands the plastic pollution campaign across East Africa

14^th April 2021

The world’s first recycled plastic sailing dhow, ‘The Flipflopi’ has just completed its historic voyage circumnavigating Lake Victoria in its East African campaign to tackle plastic pollution and is now on its way to Tanzania’s capital city, Dar es Salaam.

In a 4-week expedition that saw the dhow travel 850km from Kisumu Kenya, to Uganda and finally to Mwanza, Tanzania, the Flipflopi campaign brought together key stakeholders who hold the keys to turning the tide on plastic – from school children, to artists and activists, to country leaders and governments.

The Flipflopi is now charting a new course as it travels downstream from the source to the sea, heading to Dar es Salaam for the final leg on this historic journey. From Dar es Salaam, The Flipflopi will sail north from Tanzania to her home in Lamu, Kenya, where the boat has not returned since she left over 2 years ago.

The Lake Victoria expedition brought national and regional attention to the plastic problem affecting lakeshore communities, and showcased alternate solutions to waste-plastic through circular economy and waste management activities, mobilising hundreds of people at events along the way and paving the way for new commitments and policy-change around single-use plastic in the region.

Supported by the Governments of Tanzania and supported by the UK and French governments as well as the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Flipflopi now aims to draw Tanzanian attention to the severe plastic pollution crisis threatening our oceans and livelihoods, and will host a programme in Dar es Salaam, that has been ranked as one of the fastest growing cities worldwide. With a rapidly growing population, waste management is increasingly critical to address. 

The covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the need to address the environmental crisis which can only be done through regional and global consensus on key issues. As plastic pollution continues to build at an alarmingly fast pace and East African nations continue to feel the effects of climate change, the Flipflopi is calling for action by governments, local communities, private sector and the international community to end unnecessary single-use plastic and implement circular economy solutions and policies, to aid a green and sustainable recovery.

Dar es Salam produces an estimated 3,000 tons of waste per day, of which only 40% ends up in the designated landfill.