Pollution sucking moss
Air pollution is a huge problem in cities. According to the World Health Organization, 80% of people living in cities that measure air pollution are exposed to toxins over the recommended limit. These levels of air pollution can increase stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, among other issues. Air pollution measurements in cities are imprecise and unevenly captured. (WHO Global Ambient Air Quality Database)
A startup in Germany has created a wall of moss, called a CityTree, to filter air pollution in cities. It has an automated irrigation system, sensors to measure performance, and a fan within the moss to increase airflow. It can be powered through solar panels, or being attached to the electric grid. Each CityTree is said to do the equivalent work of 275 trees, which is filtering up to 240 metric tons of pollutants per year. A CityTree costs 25000 US dollars. The data from the sensors are transferred wirelessly to a software called AirCare so shifts can be measured in realtime and efficiency can be monitored. So far CityTrees have been installed in over 10 countries. (GreenCity Solutions; Mock 2017)
Apart from the benefit of reducing air pollution, having up to date and measurements from more numerous locations can help inform city policy. For example, in NYC, hourly rates are calculated at 25 locations, and biweekly (every 2 weeks) at 150 locations across the 5 boros. This seems like very little data for such a large area. Especially the fact that if you want day to day measurements they are only coming from 25 sites (About the New York City Community Air Survey 2010). CityTree is not in NYC yet, but would make a good addition to this polluted, data-hungry city.
About the New York City Community Air Survey (2010). NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygine.
GreenCity Solutions (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2018, from https://greencitysolutions.de/en/
Mock, Kimbery. (2017, June 27). High-tech CityTree cleans as much pollution as 275 trees. Retrieved September 21, 2018, from https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/citytree-purifies-polluted-air-green-city-solutions.html
WHO Global Ambient Air Quality Database. (2018). Retrieved September 21, 2018, from http://www.who.int/airpollution/data/cities/en/
