King Charles III visited 50 Scouts and Girl Guides on Nyali Beach in southeastern Kenya, during last week’s royal visit, highlighting the work of the Tide Turners, a global United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)-led youth movement to combat plastic pollution.
The King met the Scouts and Guides from across the country who have been educating thousands of young people about changing their plastic habits, engaging local politicians and working to clean up beaches across Kenya.
The royal visit also highlighted the successful launch of Tide Turners in more than 50 countries – it has engaged more than 780,000 people since its launch in 2019 – committing young people to take action against the global scourge of plastics.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been working with the Scouts, the Guides and other partners in Africa, India and the Caribbean with the aim of mobilizing thousands of young people to participate in the fight against plastic pollution and marine litter.
The enthusiasm of Tide Turner volunteers was on show in Nyali, with the organization now one of the largest grass-roots anti-pollution movements in the world.
Argie Muriuki, 28, a programme designer from Nairobi, was one of the Tide Turner volunteers who met the King. “The Tide Turners means I get to work with young people to challenge the norms around plastic use, and these efforts can really help pollution and conserve the environment,” she said.
Last year, Muriuki worked with 2,000 young girls in local primary schools, organizing community workshops and clean-ups. “We also perform an advocacy role,” she said. “We get to sit with the decision makers and have been able inform policy around waste management.”
And this joined-up approach is vital to tackle the issue of plastic pollution, which is a global problem. Every year 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas.
Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people’s livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being.
As highlighted in UNEP’s Turning off the Tap report, released earlier this year, a system-wide transformation is needed to end plastic pollution. This means reducing plastic produced, eliminating single-use products and switching to reuse systems and alternatives that don’t harm people and the planet. And all of this must come before recycling, which tackles the end of life of the substance, not the root of the issue.
Community-led initiatives such as the Tide Turners make a real difference. With the movement continuing to grow, communities in Kenya and beyond can look forward to a cleaner, more sustainable future for all.
