From sewing leftover cloth and waste polymers into toys as a child to making face masks out of plastics waste to help the hearing-impaired – 24-year-old Juliet Namujju from Uganda has come a long way. Her sustainable fashion label, Kimuli Fashionability, is creating masks with a transparent screen made from treated plastics waste and fitted into fabric so people can read the lips of those wearing the protective garments.

According to media reports, Uganda’s daily consumption of plastic is around 600 t, with most of it disposed of irresponsibly, one reason for the country’s persistent problem with clogged sewage systems. Some of this trash comes to Kimuli Fashionability via compatriot Social Innovation Academy. The materials are upcycled into face masks by the fashion label’s differently abled staff, half of whom have hearing loss – with production and test-group rolled into one, the company has itself quite the handy set-up!