Flipflopi Impact
“The Flipflopi Project is playing a vital role in engaging the public at large in thinking about plastic differently, They have a colourful and innovative way of talking about the issue – and their message is really hitting home, reaching parts of the population that other initiatives seldom do.”
- Prof Judi Wakhungu, Kenyan Minister for Environment 2013 - 2018
impact highlights
Educate
Teaching practical circular economy skills and preserving indigenous craftsmanship through Flipflopi’s heritage boatbuilding training centre
Expeditions lead to awareness and engagement with 1st expedition reaching worldwide audience of 850million via media coverage (Independent Media Reports from UNEP)
3 sailing expeditions covering 2500 km, directly engaged 20,000+ in just 10 weeks including policy-makers, businesses and schoolchildren.
Innovate
Constructed the world’s first 100% recycled plastic sailing ‘dhow’ that has become a regional symbol for action on plastic pollution
Established first-of-its-kind material recovery centre and recycling facility for Lamu County which contains ~50% of Kenya’s coastline. Processing 12 tonnes/month of HDPE, LDPE and PP into high quality products - artisanal furniture and boats
Created blueprints and started engineering on Flipflopi Kubwa, an ocean-faring vessel that will campaign for change on a global scale
Influence
Flipflopi together with legal firm ALN leading legislative initiative drafted a bill proposing a complete ban on unnecessary
single use plastic items in East Africa that is part of a wider advocacy campaign
Public petition has so far gathered 16,000 signatures calling on governments to ban single-use plastic
In 2019 Flipflopi was visited by the President of Kenya at the United Nations Environment Assembly and became a flagship symbol calling for a regional end to SUPs
READ OUR IMPACT REPORTS
“Flipflopi has proven boat-building to be a powerful scaling and multiplier mechanism for grassroots recycling, and a compelling platform for communication, education and policy engagement.”