Ardilla Deneys

Founder and CEO of Pollima

After building natural houses made from straw, clay, sand, and water, Ardilla Deneys went to school for interior design. Upon graduation, she couldn’t find furniture to use in architectural projects that wasn't carbon heavy and toxic. Nationwide, the demolition of buildings and their interiors sends more than 548 million tons of waste to landfills annually, more than twice the amount of waste generated through municipal solid waste. Deneys saw the carbon footprint of these products and thought that sending them to landfill was completely irresponsible. She wanted to create products that took more carbon out of the air than they created.

Deneys’ life mission naturally developed to focus on revolutionizing our ways of production and consumption. Her vision is that Pollima will create such a shift that scientists will correlate changes in ice cores and tree rings with the dawn of carbon negative manufacturing.

She sees humanity like an amoeba - and each person is a cilia. Each person only has time to make one squiggle in their entire life. If we work together, our one squiggle can move us in a positive, regenerative, and healthy direction. We can also squiggle together in a negative, disconnected, destructive direction. Or squiggle in many directions and not progress at all.

Step by step, the human amoeba can collectively create a world where waste is a resource and everyone has value. She envisions a society where abundance is pervasive and where waste creates more beauty, not less.

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