{"id":1659,"date":"2021-03-13T16:54:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T16:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2021-03-13T16:54:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T16:54:53","slug":"women-making-history-nzambi-matee-saving-the-environment-one-brick-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1659","title":{"rendered":"Women Making History: Nzambi Matee \u2013 Saving The Environment One Brick At A Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/span>\u00a0Anne Njoki Macharia\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014\u00a0Nzambi Matee, an innovator and the founder of\u00a0Gjenge Makers<\/a>\u00a0in Nairobi, Kenya, is helping to change the world \u2014 one brick at a time.<\/div>\n

The 29-year-old is an innovator. She is using plastic waste to make bricks said to be more durable than concrete, an idea born in her mother\u2019s backyard.<\/p>\n

Matee started her company in 2017 by collecting waste, sorting it, and then selling it to recyclers, but soon realized she was collecting more than they were selling. That\u2019s when lightning struck: There was more she could do with plastic.<\/p>\n

The following year, Gjenge Makers began getting waste materials from a network of recyclers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI quit my job and used my savings for this. It has been three years of hard work,\u201d said Matee. \u201cOur first brick was [made] in 2018, and it was not that good. So we continued with research until we found the best measurements and the right mixture. Last year was our first year in the market, and so far we are doing great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic waste<\/a> is everywhere, and it is here to stay. What we should be asking ourselves is what can we do with it. There are many types of plastic, but what we process is high-density polyethylene. \u2026 We use party chairs, tents for greenhouses, and cooking jars, just to mention a few.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process of making bricks requires patience, she said. After plastic waste is collected from recyclers, it is sorted, cut into smaller pieces, and mixed with sand in a machine.<\/p>\n

Exposed to a set temperature of 250 degrees, the mixture is placed on a scale and put in a machine that makes blocks. After five minutes, the blocks are removed and dipped into water to cool.<\/p>\n

Matee\u2019s determination to combat plastic waste led to her winning a\u00a02020 Young Champions of the Earth<\/a>\u00a0award from the\u00a0United Nations Environment Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With that acknowledgment, she was granted a platform to showcase her sustainability project to the world, in addition to mentorship and seed funding.<\/p>\n

While sitting for this interview, her phone kept buzzing \u2014 something she said never happened until 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know 2020 was a difficult year for everyone, but to me, it was a blessing in disguise. It is the year we started being noticed, and people ordered our bricks. We used to make 1,000 bricks per day, now it\u2019s 1,500. We work in three shifts. Right now, my biggest problem is not demand, it is supplied. The demand has been wonderful, but it was not always so. The construction sector in Kenya is very rigid,\u201d said Matee.<\/p>\n

The former engineer hopes to sell her products across Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future is bright. I hope to change people\u2019s way of thinking. The Kenyan government should support such innovations from youths,\u201d said Matee.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, her business is moving forward step by step.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Mukuru Skills Training Centre<\/a>, in a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, bought plastic bricks from Matee last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese bricks have several advantages as compared to the conventional ones. They are 30 percent cheaper,\u201d said the center\u2019s project manager, Francis Veto. \u201cWe are also conserving the environment. They are also a part of youth employment, which we highly advocate for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gjenge Makers has created 112 job opportunities in the community.<\/p>\n

The unemployment rate in Kenya stands at 10.4 percent, according to the most recent report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n

Gjenge employee Maina Kinyanjui was jobless, despite graduating from Masinde Muliro University until he met Matee and was offered a job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work in shifts, depending on placed orders. The bricks are flexible and durable,\u201d said Kinyanjui.<\/p>\n

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019 announced a ban on single-use plastics, such as bottles, in parks. His government plans to ban the manufacturing of single-use plastics by the end of his term.<\/p>\n

Mamo Bora, director-general at the\u00a0National Environmental Management Authority<\/a>, said that countries should copy Kenya\u2019s example of putting plastic waste to good use.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic bottles are damaging our environment,\u201d Bora said. \u201cLet\u2019s also not wait for the government to do everything. It\u2019s high time people change their attitudes and act responsibly. We all have to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Kenya has made great strides in conservation, the problem of\u00a0disposable plastics<\/a> remains, as it does across the world. Many countries are seeking solutions that include bans on plastic drinking straws, food containers, grocery bags, and other items, in addition to single-use bottles.<\/p>\n

The UN Environment Program\u00a0estimates<\/a>\u00a0that 1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute worldwide, and 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used globally every year.<\/p>\n

Source: Zenger News<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Anne Njoki Macharia\u00a0 NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014\u00a0Nzambi Matee, an innovator and the founder of\u00a0Gjenge Makers\u00a0in Nairobi, Kenya, is helping<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens-history-month"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1661,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions\/1661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}