March is Women’s History Month and therefore the perfect time to share the accomplishments of amazing women like Nzambi Matee from Nairobi, Kenya. Nzambi is one of seven winners of The Young Champions of the Earth prize. Announced in December 2020, this United Nations Environment Program initiative engages youth in tackling the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
Tired of seeing plastic waste littering the streets of Nairobi, Nzambi was determined to make a difference. She developed a mix of sand and plastic that when heated and compressed could produce bricks that are harder than cement. The building applications are enormous but as of the filming of this video she is currently only producing pavers. She hopes to scale the production and expand the use of her bricks.
Plastic waste is an environmental concern the world over. Our reliance on petrochemicals, single use plastics and cheap manufacturing materials has made plastics an increasingly dangerous threat to our biosphere.
You can read more about her work here: Building Blocks for a Greener Nairobi
References:
Roland Geyer, Jenna R. Jambeck and Kara Lavender,’Production, use and fate of all plastics ever made’,(Science Advances 19 Jul 2017: Vol. 3, no. 7, e1700782)
Hayden K. Webb, Jaimys Arnott, Russell J. Crawford and Elena P. Ivanova, ‘Plastic Degradation and Its Environmental Implications with Special Reference to Poly(ethylene terephthalate),’, (Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, 28 December 2012)