Ivy against air pollution has recently been planted at a school besides the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road. The Invicta school project, driven by parents and part funded by the Mayor of London, is besides the southern approach road. This is one of the worst areas for air pollution in the capital. N02 readings are 7 points above the EU air quality regulations. Hence a lot of the children at the school suffer from asthma. The new living wall screen aims to help.
Ivy against air pollution – Invicta School Greenwich
As one of the parent’s says: ‘Well we can’t stop the motorway so what do we do!’ One answer – plant Ivy. Driven by Rebecca Moore and Niall McEvoy, the Ivy will help filter the particulate matter from the road before it enters the school grounds. Niall works for the Scotscape Group, one of our sponsors.
Whilst the banning of diesel cars and a reduction in traffic is what is needed in most cities in the world, green roofs, green walls and other green infrastructure elements can help reduce the negative impacts of air pollution. As with all nature-based solutions such interventions bring a lot of other benefits too. As the children in the video story say, this schools example could encourage other schools to do something similar.
For more information on the benefits of green roofs and walls on air pollution download the new green roof report 2019.
Lastly thanks to Anna Roochove of Scotscape whose post on LinkedIn alert us to this story.