Our Streets, Our System.
Some Sundays are quiet. Others change everything.
It began like any other community day for us, a few WhatsApp check-ins, early morning jitters, a shared purpose in the air.
This past weekend, our team at Mila – young people along with parents and kids stepped out in full force. It wasn’t just a cleanup. It was a moment.
A response to World Environment Day and World Ocean Day, expressed in a way only Mombasa can: with action, community spirit, and love for the environment.
Through Ni Mtaa Wetu, which means our neighbourhood in swahili. We brought learning and action to the streets of Bakarani, Soweto, Kwa Rasta, and Kwa Bhulo.
From door-to-door waste education to sorting plastic and compostables, this was not just a campaign, it was a spark for lasting cultural change.
Mombasa is growing. Fast. The city’s population is swelling. Construction sites buzz daily. Estates rise where mangroves and trees once stood. Roads stretch, shops expand. Yet, our waste systems haven’t kept up.
Every single day, Mombasa generates 1,047 tons of mixed waste. Much of it piles up in informal dumpsites, is burned, or worse – washed into our creeks, clogging marine ecosystems and harming biodiversity.
This is the story of how, through Ni Mtaa Wetu, we decided not to wait for perfect policy. We acted. On a Sunday. In the rain. With gloves, juice, and purpose.
When Learning and Action Intersect
Like the rest of the team , I spent the week prepping our local champions, coordinating flyers, gloves, routes, and most importantly, hearts. It’s not just logistics; it’s emotional labor. We had members and pre signed volunteers with obligations, however the coming together of people in our communities was enough show of support to join, even for a few minutes before church.
When you see parents and kids join a sorting demo early in the morning amidst light showers, it reminds you that real change begins right here.
The rains came, loud, muddy, cleansing. But not once did the mood dampen. Waste sorting races turned into cart-pushing relays. Kids held up their mango juice cups and smiled. Even the elders chuckled at the trivia sessions we slipped in about biodiversity and healthcare.
We had over 150 people across 4 neighborhoods engaged. Some cleaned. Some taught. Some cheered. Others gave feedback. But all participated.
Instead of 10 scattered dumpsites and delayed pickups, the activities created a waste funnel, pointing carts and households to key collection spots. This improves efficiency for the already established County routine, reduces strain on informal youth groups, and limits spillage into coastal drainage systems.
From BSF frass used in urban greenspaces, to recyclable plastics being directed to Rafiki Plastics for recycle, this isn’t just cleanup. It’s circularity. And it’s happening here in Mombasa.
We weren’t just collecting trash. We were:
- Sorting at source – showing households how to separate recyclables and organic waste.
- Coordinating carts to deliver collected waste to proper points
- Partnering with Rafiki Plastics to close the recycling loop
- Collaboration with local youth dumpsite managers on community engagement.
- Creating educational races, games, and trivia, teaching kids how BSF frass becomes fertilizer.
What if residents aren’t just called to act during campaigns – but recognized as co-designers of sustainable cities?
Global platforms like COP30 are emphasizing nature-based solutions, circular economy, and community inclusion. This campaign, driven by youth and supported by youth-led organisations like Furies Enterprises offering volunteers in show of support, is proof that local innovation is global climate action.
- What if the next waste strategy included models like Ni Mtaa Wetu as part of feedback if not implementation toolkit?
- What if local youth groups managing dumpsites were consistently equipped, insured, and trained, not overlooked?
These are not wild ideas. They’re logical extensions of what we’re already proving works individually at different scales.
That’s the message we shared with our community, with mothers who joined us with their own tools, and elders who pointed out forgotten waste routes.
We need our communities informed and willing, gear for youth managing dumpsites with their bare hands. We need visibility for informal workers doing essential work.
The truth is: urban sprawl without waste infrastructure invites environmental collapse. It needs all of us.
Standing with Stakeholders
The County Government of Mombasa, local youth groups who manage waste points and stakeholders in support of climate action responded.
Post-collection being the biggest challenge and the Department of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Energy, through the routine pick-up trucks of non recyclable waste from Kwa Rasta collection point, was an encouraging affirmation that working together is the way for a healthy living breathing ecosystem.
We were honored to have been heard. Youth representative Victor Ogambi, representing the local area Chief, MCA and County Ward Administration, joined in on our activities. He was all hands with the community he lives in. We hope the continued support, by the community and stakeholders especially in co creation, waste pickup and gear provision for youth managing dumpsites, like those led by Karisa at Kwa Rasta.
Some of our most impactful moments came at the dumpsites. Youth groups were there, working with little to no protective gear. Yet managing the spaces that prevent our neighborhoods from drowning in filth. So we joined them, not to take over, but to walk alongside them, with proper gloves, boots, and consciousness of risk.
We named this campaign Ni Mtaa Wetu because the problems are close to home. But so are the solutions.
We’re not just trying to clean up, we’re trying to rewrite how our communities interact with nature.
Because from waste sorting to tree planting to BSF composting, climate action is not an event. It’s a culture shift.
