In March this year, we took the bold step to clean up Bomet town, and let’s be honest — cleaning plastic waste isn’t as glamorous as some blogs and Instagram posts make it seem. It’s messy. It’s smelly. Sometimes it even feels thankless. But it’s necessary. Because the moment you pick up that first plastic bottle buried in mud, or untangle shopping bags stuck in bushes, you’re hit with the ugly truth: this is the result of us not taking care of our environment. As we moved from street to street — cleaning around shops, bus stations, and open markets — most people just stood and watched. They stared like we were doing someone else’s job. No one wanted to get their hands dirty. But something powerful happened when the Vice Chancellor of Bomet University joined us and called on everyone around to take part. Slowly, people started stepping in. Shopkeepers brought out brooms. Boda boda riders picked up litter around their stages. Students, passersby, even curious kids with nothing but plastic bags on their hands joined in. What started as a small effort became a town-wide clean-up, That day reminded us that environmental action isn’t just policy or big conferences — it starts with us, on the ground, doing the dirty but necessary work.
Kenya’s plastic waste problem is staggering. The country generates approximately 22,000 tonnes of waste daily, with about 20%—or 4,400 tonnes—being plastic. This translates to an estimated 0.5 to 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, of which only 8% is recycled. The remainder either ends up in landfills, is incinerated, or, worse, is released into the environment . Urban centers like Nairobi and Mombasa are particularly affected. In Nairobi, for instance, an estimated 2,400 tonnes of solid waste are produced daily, 20% of which is plastic . Similarly, Mombasa generates about 2,200 tonnes of waste daily, with a quarter being plastic . This overwhelming accumulation of plastic waste has dire consequences. It clogs drainage systems, leading to flooding and the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid. Additionally, plastic waste in rivers and oceans poses significant threats to aquatic life and enters the food chain, affecting human health . The persistence of plastic in the environment, due to its non-biodegradable nature, makes these problems worse, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive waste management solutions and public participation in reducing plastic consumption and improving disposal practices.
As we mark World Environment Day 2025 under the theme #EndPlasticPollution, Kenya stands at a crossroads.. The plastic waste crisis isn’t a distant issue for future generations; it’s right here, in our rivers, in our marketplaces, in our towns. It’s in the plastic bag tossed out of a moving matatu or the bottle left behind after a football match. It is a reminder that the time to act is now, and the responsibility is ours. From grassroots clean-up efforts like the one we led in Bomet, to holding institutions accountable, every step counts. This year, let’s not just repost hashtags or share awareness graphics. Let’s commit — to reducing our plastic use, to joining local cleanups, to calling out pollution when we see it. Because if there’s anything this year’s World Environment Day is teaching us, it’s that the fight against plastic pollution begins with us.
