The #Plasticrevolution
Taking a positive African #plasticrevolution to the world!
The Flipflopi dhow
The Flipflopi is the world’s first sailing boat made entirely from waste plastic and flip-flops collected from beaches and towns on the Kenyan coast.
The mission
Sailing a beautiful 100% recycled plastic boat around the world to inspire and engage local, regional and global communities with the message that single-use plastic shouldn’t exist - but instead should be re-used, re-purposed and recycled as part of a sustainable circular economy.
The #Plasticrevolution
Our vision is a world which has banned single-use plastic, and where responsible production and consumption of plastic is part of a circular, not linear, economy.
We will get there by pushing the #plasticrevolution movement and inspire & engage to make change!
What’s next
We are building a larger boat capable of sailing our simple message around the world. We are doing this because an urgent communication and activation challenge remains. Large parts of the world have little or no engagement with the issue of single-use plastic pollution. Flipflopi and its simple, colourful, infectious message – has a proven ability to engage new audiences: and the larger boat has the power to instantly become the most recognisable emblem globally of the urgent need for change.
Our story
The idea came to project founder Ben Morison in 2015 after he was struck by the amounts of plastic, especially flipflops, littering the same beaches he was marketing as luxury holiday destinations – via his job as a Kenyan tour operator.
Ben decided to research what other uses could be found for the plastic – and realised quickly that building a boat from this plastic waste would be an effective way to share a positive message about the need for change. Shortly after, Ben joined forces with Ali Skanda, a renowned sailing dhow builder from Lamu in Kenya, and together they set about building a traditional sailing dhow entirely from waste plastic – with the aim to create a positive example of how single-use plastic could have a second life.
Combining traditional boat building whilst also pioneering new techniques – Ali and his team were able to craft the various components of the dhow. Ten tonnes of plastic waste, all collected from the Kenyan coast, were melted, shaped and carved by the team exactly as they would do with wood. Clad in 30,000 recycled flip-flops, the dhow, aptly named “The Flipflopi”, is over nine metres long and weighs 7 tonnes – it is a world first.
#Plasticrevolution
We're part of the #Plasticrevolution because we think using plastic just once and then throwing it away makes no sense.
And the movement is growing day by day. Here are some of the many other people, companies, schools, and institutions, that have also joined the #plasticrevolution - advocating for a world without single-use plastics!
Use the following social media #tags to add your voice to the growing #plasticrevolution movement
#plasticrevolution
#theflipflopi