As she and her younger brother played outside, the trash piles in her community seemed to grow larger and larger with each passing day. Diana wanted to make a change and took the initiative. Diana considered that simply removing the trash once was not a permanent solution. Instead she created a clever sustainable system for keeping her community free of trash and improving the environment.
After organizing her neighbors and building consensus around her solution, Diana raised 10,000 Kenyan shillings to purchase the first batch of black and clear plastic bags. She convinced the households in her community to use the bags to separate their trash into biodegradable waste and recyclables. Diana then hired a worker to gather the community recyclables and negotiated their sale to a local recycling company. Proceeds from recycling helped fund regular waste collection in the community. Since February 2012 she has recruited 50 households into the Planet Green program.
Not stopping there, Diana implemented a financially sustainable system to collect woodchips from the local furniture factory, and rotting vegetables from the market and provide them to local poultry and vegetable farmers. Diana is building a movement by educating local school children on the importance of and methods for community and environmental conservation. At just 18, Diana has been well on her way to becoming a leading advocate for environmental conservation and sustainability in Africa.
Diana is currently studying at the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania and is scheduled to graduate by 2017. Since her selection as an Anzisha Fellow she has hosted a TED Talk about the importance of a Green Planet and has held several consulting based internships. Her venture remains active.
