Innovating Environmental Health

Children are especially vulnerable to air pollution due to their physiology and behaviors. Yet, over 90% of children breathe toxic air every day. Innovating Environment Health strives to provide clean air for children in Nepal. We implement low-cost air filtration devices, distribute IoT air quality sensors, and teach a curriculum on sustainability and design thinking to inspire the next generation of climate leaders. We target low-source schools in urban areas that are especially vulnerable to the accumulation of environment-related social disadvantages. We aim to develop local solutions by working with local experts and creating local supply chains. By providing price-flexible options marketed to NGOs and governments, we provide 800 hours of clean air per student every year. Through collaborative engineering and education, we hope to create a network of environmental health innovations around the world. 

90% of children breathe toxic air every day and 50% of acute lower respiratory tract infections are related to pollution. UNICEF declared in 2016 that “exposure to air pollution is an overlooked health emergency for children around the world”. Children, especially those in low-resource communities, are more vulnerable to air pollution due to their physiology and environment. Children spend ⅓ of their day in the classroom, amounting to almost 1000 hours a year. Yet, there is still no air filtration device designed specifically for schools. Children who are in these classrooms breathe in toxic air day in, day out, leading to a higher frequency of respiratory illnesses. Exposure to air pollution also negatively impacts their school attendance, participation, and scores. Over time, low levels of educational achievement limit a child’s economic horizon and gradually culminate in lower economic status, confining them in the poverty cycle. Children in Nepal are especially impacted, located between two major industrial countries China and India. In addition, there is a high prevalence of pollutants from major roads and reconstruction after the 2015 earthquake. While neighboring countries have taken action to protect their students, the Nepali government has yet to enact policies to counter these burdens.

We design low-cost air filtration devices and implement them in urban Nepali schools. Our device is designed for low-resource schools and changes the air in a classroom at least 6 times per hour, which can accommodate classrooms with up to 65 students. To account for packed spaces and high rates of movement, we provide high air exchange and filtration per unit per person. The device reduces the level of pollution in the classrooms to less than 15ug/m^3 of PM 2.5. We prioritize the use of local resources such as traditional Doko baskets as part of our design because one, it renders the product more culturally familiar to our users, and two it empowers local businesses. Understanding that electricity bills can pose a financial burden to schools, the device is solar-powered. Our collaboration with local experts and the usage of local resources allows us to provide air filtration devices at less than 200 USD per device. Furthermore, to drive sustainable change, we empower Nepali students by distributing IoT air filtration sensors and teaching an educational curriculum focused on design thinking, sustainability, and engineering.

Our solution targets children who are schooled in areas with high measures of IAQ (Indoor Air Pollution), particularly children in lower-resourced regions. The health of children in these areas is often neglected as the schools they study in have limited energy budgets. In fact, a Nepali student IEH interviewed said that there is a factory beside her school that produces black smoke from petroleum. Consistently breathing poor air causes kids to fall sick more often and affects the children's education experience. To address this problem, we partnered with local Nepali engineers to design air filters for these schools. Throughout this process, we engage our users with surveys to understand children's experiences living in highly polluted areas. We augment their responses by interviewing local professors and experts and understanding their perspectives on the air pollution crisis. 

From our investigation, we discovered that many Nepali classrooms are disproportionately impacted by air pollution because of their lack of resources and exposure to pollutants. With our low cost and user-centric design, IEH's air filter remains the only mitigation measure targeting these low-resource classrooms. As our air filters are distributed and installed in these schools, classrooms that previously received the brunt of the air pollution crisis will become cleaner learning environments for their children. Eventually, attendance rates and test scores will increase, improving children's long-term health outcomes and making classrooms more equitable in the long run. 

Big cities in developing countries have the lowest air quality due to the lack of technology and financial resources to invest in cleaner air. A large number of schools, especially those populated with low-income students, are located near factories, highways, and other sources of pollution. Ambient air pollution worsens student’s health as well as academic achievement in the classroom. Thereby, poor air quality amplifies existing inequalities in the classroom and hampers the education of young leaders around the world. It risks the well-being and learning of those who are exposed to poor air, trapping them in a cycle of inequality.

We are currently building and testing our air filtration device to validate the technology. We have contacted potential suppliers that are willing to ship custom pieces to our work space. Over the summer, we will assemble the components and make changes to improve the fit of our device. It is crucial for us to minimize the noise produced by the fan and the energy consumed by the device. The device would need to relatively simple to assemble and be quickly deployable in low-resource schools. In addition, we will employ an enclosure set-up to measure the air flow, device efficacy, and its durability. It would be especially important to measure whether standard pollutants such as PM 2.5 can be captured as well as how often the filter needs to be replaced. Due to the COVID restrictions in Nepal, we intend to begin pilot testing in Boston secondary schools in the fall.

IEH remains the only mitigation measure that low-resourced Nepali classrooms have, and we are committed to fully meet their needs. In short, IEH innovates by going local. When it comes to creating air filters, most of the preexisting solutions follow the cookie-cutter, industry-approved design. These solutions cannot be installed effectively in Nepali classrooms. IEH innovates by going local. In every step of our design process, we work with local experts to understand the unique environment our users are situated in, and tailor our device to their needs. For instance, each IEH air filter is encased in a local Doko basket - we prioritize the use of local resources because it makes the product more culturally familiar to our users and it empowers local businesses. Additionally, we are working to create local supply chains to improve IEH's sustainability and lower transport costs. Most importantly, our air filter is the only product targeted toward large classrooms that is powered by solar energy, which reduces the energy burden of poorer schools. 

qinyi

Currently serving: 0

1 year: (assuming that there are 40 students in a classroom and we want to install 3 air filters over the summer) 120

5 years: 120*5?

To measure the effectiveness of IEH's air filtration device, we will use air quality sensors. The level of pollutants will be monitored over months. In addition, student test scores and attendance will be evaluated to understand whether air filtration devices can improve educational outcomes. In addition, the short-term illnesses of students can be surveyed to visualize the health outcome. Effectiveness is measured in decreased level of pollutants, higher attendance and test scores, as well as lower incidence of short-term illnesses. Additionally, the impact of our education project will be measured using an end of program survey that helps us gauge if our program has improved students' awareness of environmental health content and whether students feel more empowered to solve challenges in their own communities. Lastly, progress toward our goal to create a worldwide network of partners can be measured in the number of partners we have in each local regions (organizations, students, innovators we connect with on a monthly basis, at least). 

In total, there are 12 workers on the IEH team. Almost all of us are full-time college students. However, each of us are committed to dedicating 20 hours per week to this project. 

Growing up in Shanghai and Kathmandu, we have firsthand experience of air pollution in outdoor areas and in our classrooms. The pollution affected our educational experience negatively, but as there were no air filtration devices targeted toward crowded classrooms, we had no choice but to tolerate bad air quality. We noticed that there was an absence of air filtration devices for classrooms and we created IEH to address that need. Half of the members on our executive board personally experienced the poor air quality in Nepali classrooms growing up. These experiences gave us empathy for those who are suffering from this problem. In addition, the founding members are equipped with skills such as problem-solving and innovative thinking. We have experience ranging from building air filtration surgical stuff to activism in Nepal. In the backdrop of our entire team, each member contributes with different skills (business, engineering, marketing, education, design, etc). Our advisors and mentors have also extensively worked in environment and education and help us get valuable insights from these sectors.

Our team represents an array of cultural backgrounds and experiences. Our team comprises of individuals who grew up in Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Puerto Rico, Japan, America, and more, boasting a myriad of perspectives that enrich IEH. There is a balance of both sexes on each sub-team, and many female-identifying individuals are adept in STEM-related fields. To prevent discrimination, we have all our members sign the IEH constitution when they are onboarded, ensuring that they will uphold the non-discrimination policy that we prioritize. Moreover, we utilize our liberal arts education to moderate and be aware of any unconscious biases we may hold toward people of different backgrounds. Lastly, to build inclusivity in our team, we actively check in with our members and hold bonding nights to make IEH feel like a warm community. 

One of our long-term goals is to create a sustainable network of IEH partners around the world. However, as our organization is relatively young, there is limited awareness about our work - as of now, our readership mainly consists of our fellow college students in Boston. As our organization strives for a global network of partners, one of the most valuable assets we can receive from Solve is the networks and connections. These connections can help us jumpstart our global network and help us achieve one of our long-term goals of spreading and normalizing innovation for environmental health crises. 

Moreover, IEH aims to forge local supply chains in Kathmandu, Boston, and Shanghai.  In many cases, outsourcing may be cheaper, but IEH is a service organization - we don't merely provide our users with one-time products; we ensure that the manufacturing and distribution processes of our air filter are just, equitable, and support the local economy. Evidently, as this is a huge economic undertaking that would require much capital, another Solve asset would be the allotted funds. With more capital, we can accomplish our mission of innovating locally. 

As a student-run initiative, we struggle to acquire opportunities that allow us to grow financially. We currently depend on student competitions and school funding to fuel our project. However, we would like to gain more sustainable financial support from partners who are willing to invest in this initiative long term. We would like to enter a network of mentors and supporters who are actively seeking to tackle poor air quality in the classrooms. We would love to be connected with organizations that are willing to help us expand our network and connect with local schools. Having launched this project in a remote setting (due to COVID), we would love any opportunities to speak with local students and school officials would be invaluable to us. We are always seeking to learn more about the Nepali community and to work together with local experts. 

We are planning to be based in the US and expand our projects in Nepal and China for now. So we would like to partner with organizations that are actively working towards creating this world a better place for children. UNICEF Nepal, Save The Children, PLAN International has been actively working with Nepali government and other major stakeholders to execute children welfare centric projects. They can prove to be great strategic partners for us. Foundations such as CG Foundation in Nepal can help us fund our projects to install these devices into low-resourced schools. Government bodies such as the Ministry of Health and Population in Nepal, and Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur Metropolitan Offices can be crucial partners. They can help us get permission to work with local government schools in Nepal. Organizations and experts who might have worked with Air Pollution, Climate Change, Environmental Health can be a great ally as well.

In Nepal, only well-funded and well-connected schools receive top-notch STEM education. Most students in lower-resourced schools do not have access to courses that apply the rudimentary scientific and mathematical principles they learn in class. To address this need, IEH delivers an educational curriculum focused on design thinking, sustainability, and engineering to empower the next generation of climate leaders in Nepal. Our free course increases students’ awareness of the severe effects of indoor air pollution and guides them to create their own solutions for environmental health problems (such as air pollution) in their own community. Indeed, in the span of six weeks, our course teaches a variety of topics related to environmental health (sustainability, circuits, geo-engineering, etc) and design thinking. At the end of the course, Eco-Ed challenges students to apply these concepts to generate a solution to an environmental problem in their own communities.  

The GM Prize can help elevate Eco-Ed by financially supporting our efforts to make the program accessible to more students in Nepal, be it through marketing campaigns or hiring more teachers to increase the frequency of Eco-Ed. Moreover, to further engage our students, we have devised simple science experiments that help students grasp difficult concepts. Frequently, because shipment and materials can be expensive, we are limited in how many students Eco-Ed can accommodate. The GM Prize can help us deliver more immersive experiments that can reach a larger number of students in Nepal. 

As demonstrated by an NYU study by Gilraine, exposure to air pollution negatively impact children’s school attendance, participation, and achievement rates. Over time, low levels of educational achievement may limit a child’s economic horizon and gradually culminate in lower economic status, confining them in the poverty cycle. This tragic cycle repeats -- children of low economic backgrounds breathe more toxic air, affecting their education and health and limiting the economic opportunities available to them, resulting in poorer life outcomes. 

IEH designs air filtration devices in Nepali classrooms and delivers an educational curriculum focused on design thinking, sustainability, and engineering to empower the next generation of climate leaders. We not only provide clean air to students but also increases their awareness of the severe effects of indoor air pollution. We guides them to create their own solutions for environmental health problems in their own community. Indeed, as increased innovation is tied to poverty reduction, our initiative is poised to curb poverty in Kathmandu. 

The GSR Prize can help us test and distribute air filtration devices to the classroom. It can also help elevate our curriculum by financially supporting our adoption of more complex classroom equipment and the shipment of these materials to our students. Frequently, we are limited in the scope of project because material gathering and pilot testing can be expensive. The GSR Prize can help us create and deliver more equitable classrooms that effectively empowers the next generation of leaders.