As beautiful as Zanzibar is, the ever increasing popularity of the island causes quite some issues. The most unsightly is the problem regarding refuse or garbage, which seems to be everywhere.
Resorts usually get their staff to clean “their” beach (all beaches on Zanzibar are public). But where does all that stuff go? And where do the locals drop off their garbage?
Zanzibar does not have dedicated areas in the villages to drop off recycling material, nor do we have a governmental garbage removal system. That’s the reason why villages, beaches and road sides are littered with garbage. Besides the aesthetic issue, it is a serious health concern. Cows and goats eat the plastic. The plastic that’s taken into the ocean by the tides is eaten by the fish and other sea creatures.
A few years ago ZANREC was founded for the collection and recycling of plastic, metal and glass from the resorts, for a monthly fee. The waste from these hotels is collected, separated and recycled, re-used etc and the remainder is dumped at the only official dumpsite on Zanzibar, in Kibele.
However, too many resorts still use local “garbage collectors” that cart away loads of recycling on uncovered pick-up trucks, only to dump it on the other side of the tar roads or a bit further inland. They of course are supposed to bring it to the official dumping site in Kibele, for which they get paid by the resorts – but there is no proof of delivery to that site, the hotels apparently just trust the garbage collectors.
I applaud the resorts who signed up with Zanrec and thereby do their bid to not only make Zanzibar cleaner, but to protect the environment, animals and creatures of the ocean.
If you wish to rather support such a resort by staying there for your vacation, please choose from the list below which I received from Zanrec. I will of course keep the list updated, as the rest of my blog.
South/South East Coast
Albatross Ocean View
Anna of Zanzibar
Assalam
Aya Beach
Baladin
Baraza
Beach House
Belvedere
B4 Beach Club
Blue Oyster
Blue Reef Bungalows
Blue Reef Spot
Breezes
Casa del Mar
Casa Paradise
Chez Hassan
Cinnamon Hotel
Clove Island
Dhow Inn
Fun Beach
Garden Beach Bungalows
Hotel on the Rock
Jambiani Residence
Jambiani Villas
Kilimani Kwetu
Kizikula
Kupaga Villas
Laluna
Le Mersenne Beach Resort
MasaiMara
Matlai Boutique Hotel
Milele Villas
Mr. Kahawa
Mwezi Boutique Hotel
New Teddy’s on the Beach
NUR
Oxygen
Paje by Night
PiliPili Africa
PiliPili Boutique
Pilipili Garden
PiliPili Ocean Blue
PiliPili Seconda Stella
PiliPili Spot
Quambani
Resilience
Savera
Sharazad
Simba Apartments
The Loop
The Nest Zanzibar
The Palms
The Residence
The Rock
Tsunami Village
Uhuru PiliPili
Un’Altra Storia
Upendo
Uzuri Villa
Villa Mina
Villa Orchid
White Sand
Zanzistar Guesthouse
Zawadi
North/North East Coast
Aqua Resort
Dream Bay
Kena Beach Villas
Kiganja
Kilindi
Sunshine Bay
Sunshine Zanzibar
Warere
Zanzibar House
Zanzibar Queen Hotel
Zanzibar Retreat
Zanzibar Sunrise
Zuri Hotel
Stone Town/West Coast
Verde Hotel
Zanzi Resort
Zanzibar Insider Buzz 