A Christmas Tree with a Difference!

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To ensure &Beyond Mnemba Island’s idyllic beach remains spotless for guests, the Mnemba team patrols the beach daily and immediately clears away any litter that has washed up with the tide. From medicine bottles and cigarette lighters, to jerry cans and children’s toys, some items originate from as far away as Thailand!

The most common item collected, by far, are flip flops. So this Christmas, the Mnemba family decided to put them to good use and make the first ever flip flop Christmas tree! A beautiful tree that could rival those on 5th Avenue in New York, Mnemba’s unique tree is also a conversation piece with a very important message: to raise awareness for one of the biggest threats facing the world’s oceans — rubbish.

In 1997, sailor Charles Moore discovered the first plastic island; quite literally a soup of plastic rubbish that took more than a week to sail through. Research revealed the island to be made up of confetti-sized plastic particles brought together by a powerful ocean current. It is impossible to gauge its actual size; however it is estimated to be almost twice the size of the continental US, containing approximately 100 million tons of rubbish.  Scientists have identified three of these giant floating rubbish dumps and predict the existence of two more. Litter in the ocean causes a multitude of problems for marine ecosystems; more than a million seabirds and 100 000 marine mammals die each year as a direct result of plastic waste.
Mnemba has made a concerted effort to reduce its plastic waste. Most notably they negotiated with Zanzibar’s mineral water producer to purchase reusable 20 L water bottles in place of the 1.5 L disposable ones. This simple and easy switch has reduced plastic waste on the island by 1 000 kg a month! Well done to the Mnemba team for making a positive difference to the health of our surrounding waters.