Silt deposits and rocks cover the Mwanguwa Ravine’s walkway in Mahoo Village, Taita Taveta County, under the intense noon sun, exposing parts of steep terrain that overflow when it rains.

The valley may be safely navigated without water, but as you walk through the silt deposits, you’ll find that some of them have been transformed into landfills, carrying largely used diapers, plastic bags, and bottles.

Several ravines in the region, including Mwanguwa, discharge their water into Njoro Springs, which is joined to River Lumi. This river discharges into Lake Jipe, a lake that shares territorial boundaries with Tanzania and Kenya.

This lake is a small tributary of the Ruvu River, which flows into the Nyumba ya Mungu from the Lumi River.

So, in addition to endangering the health of thousands of people who depend on water from all of these sources, this waste, particularly the plastic trash, poses a major threat to the Indian Ocean’s ecology.

Tragedy

Plastic waste disposal is a complicated problem, according to Grantone Mwandawiro, the Taita Taveta county executive committee member for Water, Sanitation, Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources.

The county states that the majority of the poorly managed plastic garbage ends up in water bodies through drainage channels since the majority of the population lacks collection services, causing them to throw rubbish into storm drains.

The county produces 3,329 tonnes of plastic garbage annually, the research states.

About 1.3 million tonnes of plastic are consumed annually in Kenya, or 27%.

In 2017, Kenya banned the use of plastic carrier bags, but then expanded the prohibition to cover single-use plastics in protected areas.

The majority of marine debris found in Kenya’s oceans, rivers, and beaches is caused by land-based activities, with the Indian Ocean taking the brunt of this pollution, according to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

Five researchers from the Universities of Nairobi, Kwa Zulu Natal, and the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute collaborated on a study that was published in October 2021 in the European Journal of Sustainable Development Research. The study revealed the horrifying truth that there are many microplastics, or tiny pieces of plastic, in Kenya’s Indian Ocean.

The study found that there were more MPs in the surface waters around the Kenyan coast.