Taking the Plastic Revolution Global
The FLipflopi arriving at Lolui Island Uganda | © UMBER Studios & The Flipflopi
By Victor Béguerie
The Flipflopi team comprised of plastic revolutionaries from Kenya, the UK, Germany, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and France has always been international and multicultural.
Whilst our roots are firmly embedded in Kenya, our movement has always been about growing a plastic revolution worldwide. With this in mind, we couldn’t be more humbled by the excitement and involvement from French students, ambassadors, filmmakers and adventurists who amplified the cause and importance of our Lake Victoria Expedition. Their support aided us in demanding a solution to the plastic pollution problem and amplified our voice globally.
Preparing for Lake Victoria
An expedition as ambitious as circumnavigating Lake Victoria needs partners equal in their gall. So before we set sail we went out to find partners that could help us with our mission.
Flipflopi crew preparing the dhow for sail | © UMBER Studio & The Flipflopi
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), came on board first. They’ve extensively worked around Lake Victoria on water and sanitation issues, consequently, they were a natural fit for this Expedition. This communication partnership was a great opportunity to gather more partners around Lake Victoria, including decision-makers and donors to influence policy in the area and to allow us to bring more attention to the state of the lake.
Our next French partnership was found in the talented UMBER Studio. UMBER are a French communication and production agency focused on innovation and the environment. The idea of setting sail around Lake Victoria was enough to pique their interest so they joined us on a volunteer basis as the film crew for the entire expedition.
UMBER’s involvement aroused the curiosity of the famous French environmental activist/adventurer, Eric Loizeau. Eric is a world-famous sailor winning many championships in his youth who’s turned his attention to the mountains summiting Mount Everest in 2003. As the ambassador of the Race for Water Foundation - a Swiss foundation fighting against ocean plastic pollution - he was a natural fit to join the Flipflopi expedition team.
Before the French team departed to Kenya for the start of the expedition, they’d used their contacts to broadcast the expedition. Local and regional media were alerted of Flipflopi’s groundbreaking expedition, with 8 press articles, 2 radio interviews published and a live TV interview.
Educating under sail
Thanks to the interest raised from all the media attention, the communication agency Kat’Cents Coups who specialises in creating educational materials came on board. This led to 302 primary and secondary schools across France being regularly updated on Flipflopi’s progress. Overall more than 30,000 school children were able to follow the adventures of Flipflopi on Lake Victoria.
Students worksheets from the informational toolkits.
Background informational toolkits were first sent to schools to present the context and importance of the entire expedition. Students were first taught the geography, geology, biodiversity and plastic pollution issues in East Africa.
For the expedition, a dedicated Youtube Channel “L’aventure Pédagogique” was created. Videos were posted while under sail around Lake Victoria to present the challenges of the expedition, the impact we were having and to highlight communities around the lake. The school children taking part sent questions to Eric, who tried his best, despite some regular internet troubles, to reply to as many as possible.
In the French press
During the expedition, the national French press did not forget about the expedition. Radio France Internationale and the newspaper La Croix covered the expedition focusing on the necessity of a regional consensus on single-use plastic to fight efficiently plastic pollution in Lake Victoria. While the French news NGO “Le Projet Imagine” also shared throughout the expedition news and updates of the Flipflopi journey.
At our event at Ggaba Beach in Kampala, the first French-speaking radio in Kampala, Bonjour Kampala interviewed Eric for their environment show “Planète”.
After visiting the Flipflopi dhow during our High-Level event at Speke Munyonyo, the French Ambassador in Uganda made a passionate speech in favour of the preservation of the environment and all the natural splendours of Uganda and the following day, the French school of Kampala participated in the plastic bottle boat competition organized at the Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club.
After the expedition
Once the French contingent had returned to French shores, a webinar was arranged with partners Kat’ Cents Coups and Valorplast. The webinar featured Louise, Eric and Loïc.
This gave our French team the opportunity to directly reply to questions about the expedition, plastic pollution or recycling from the pupils - over 200 questions were received!
Creating lasting impact
Recycled artwork created by students in France.
Due to their participation in this educational series some schools have also been inspired to change their use of single-use plastics. And some of the changes have been truly innovative.
One school will no longer use plastic glue sticks but instead homemade glue in glass containers. Another school will collect markers and plastic tubes of glue to give to a recycling company. Shocked by the number of single-use covid face masks in the streets of their city, some school children decided to create banners and contact their city hall to install more closed bins in the city to reduce the mess caused by these masks.
Many of our French contingents have returned to their own schools to present their Flipflopi Expedition experiences. Where a further 200 pupils have been engaged. We even held a live webinar for the French School all the way in Shanghai, China!
These visits have allowed children to learn more about plastic pollution, the importance of ocean preservation and inspire behavioural change.
A well told story but it’s not yet enough...
The Flipflopi has been referred to as “Africa’s Blue Planet Moment” - something we are deeply proud of. This movement has grown beyond our expectations and the media continues to play a strong and vital role in keeping us all on our toes.
Our expeditions are not in the least about a sailing adventure - it’s about why we are sailing and thanks to the little boat made of bits of old plastic and flipflops, we can continue to provide a platform to bring attention to some of the most pressing untold stories about plastic pollution….
With thanks to the dedicated work of our French team members, we’ve been able to reach a new audience of thousands in France to further spread the plastic revolution.
While we may be sailing in East Africa, we know that it will take a global commitment to put an end to plastic pollution, thus having this support from so far-flung regions as France is an important first step to taking our movement global!
And yes, this is also evidence that plastic is a global problem that we’re all responsible for that requires a serious global solution. Many are now advocating for a globally binding treaty on plastic pollution which is one necessary step forward…
Some more French articles of note:
Geo France wrote about the expedition.
Voiles Et Voiliers a French sailing magazine interviewed Eric at length.
Forum Eco featured an interview with our Louise.
And to top off the French takeover, our short film; Ali and Aisha was even selected by the prestigious Annecy Film Festival.
Vive la Révolution Plastique!
Tanzanian students demonstrating for a plastic revolution | © Katharina Elleke
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