22 · DIPESH PABARI · THE POWER OF CHOICE & BUILDING A GIANT PLASTIC BOAT

Dipesh is quite the eco-leader and one of the founders of the Flipflopi Expedition, a remarkable plan to build a 60ft dhow out of recycled plastic and sail it from Lamu, Kenya to Cape Town South Africa ('just' 5,250km!).  More on Dipesh: "Having lived on the Kenyan Coast for seven years, Dipesh became addicted to trash. He was obsessed with what else one could do with all the flip-flops and discarded bottles that he picked off the beach. For a few years, he had a lot of fun building giant size sculptures (have a look at Mfalme the Whale) from thousands of flip-flops as well as houses, water tanks and other structures from plastic bottles. Alas, his children, he was told, could not spend their lives picking trash, and school fees had to be raised, so he and his family left the coast and moved up country where he currently runs an outdoor adventure company near Mt Kenya where it's far too cold to wear flipflops." We visited Dipesh in Nairobi, Kenya and shortly after, visited dhow maker Ali in Lamu where we got to see the "small" plastic pilot dhow for ourselves! In this wide-ranging discussion with Dipesh, we cover Dipesh's varied but mission-driven career path, the Flipflopi Expedition's key messages and the power of individual choice in changing the world. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Find the show notes here  ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ *** SOCIALIZE WITH US *** Website Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube