Influenced by a piano and Sir David Attenborough, Ntokozo Mbuli became a presenter and producer of the long-running environmental television programme 50/50, in her quest to find solutions to aid people and the planet.
While playing the piano one night, she came up with her current on-air campaign.
"I was playing a song that is quite difficult and I was remembering how I used to think that I would never be able to play that song.
"So I created some on-air promos with the messaging that we should never underestimate the potential that our hands have, and we should allow them to use their power to change the world," she says.
The "Allow your hands" campaign urges every individual to play a role in saving their environment, and their own future. Born in Benoni, Mbuli says that South Africa has problems that need immediate solutions.
"Our people need to be healthy, they need housing, they need jobs and they need education. But our planet needs us too," she urges.
An interview that she did with conservation icon Jane Goodall resonated with Mbuli, because it highlighted that the choices people make daily can make a difference.
"What products am I using? How are they made? How does this particular choice impact the environment? Can I do it differently?" she says.
"You don't have to move mountains; you just have to do a little bit. A million little bits can achieve so much.
"Whether you are saving a bird, planting a tree, creating a worm farm, planting a vegetable garden… whatever it is, do it."
Mbuli became a partner and executive producer at Clive Morris Productions, the owners of 50/50, when the programme moved from SABC in 2008.
She leads a team that engages with various organisations, the government and other media platforms to research and identify conservation and environmental issues in South Africa.
She makes the final decisions before the programme goes to the national broadcaster for sign-off.
"We use the medium of TV to communicate important environmental messages and to encourage action by our viewers. We have also become the vehicle through which individuals and groups can connect and aid environmental conservation," she explains.
Mbuli also selects the stories for 50/50, directs the inserts and writes the script for presenters.
When she's not in the studio, she educates school children about greening and has also built a popular online social media platform where she shares newsworthy stories about the environment.
Her personal touch feeds into her awareness talks at schools and businesses. Having worked her way up the ranks from the tender age of 16, Mbuli is still as driven and committed to the cause as she was when she began.
"I have managed to instil a culture of environmental best practice in the township schools where I deliver talks," she says.
Since Mbuli has been producing and presenting for 50/50, many government decisions that could be potentially damaging to the environment have been halted or suspended for further review as a result of the show.
"They placed a moratorium on fracking after our story. They later made a decision to start drilling, but our story made them step back and think carefully.
"Then there was a petrol station that was being built on a wetland on the East Rand.
"That stopped as well following a story we did. And my personal favourite was when we exposed the corruption in the Vietnamese embassy — we caught the embassy employees on camera, trading illegally in rhino horn. They were deported."
She says her environmental impact is the change in the mindset of individuals who can implement small changes, and the decision-makers in the organisations that can implement bigger changes.
"Changing the world starts with changing minds and I believe I do that," she says.