One day during my recent trip to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, I got back to my guesthouse, hopped into the shower and I noticed that my face was black—almost entirely covered in dirt. I hadn’t done anything extraordinary though, just spent a day walking around the city. Later that evening, I couldn’t stop coughing.
The next day a local guy told me I should wear a facemask for my health. As it turns, out the air quality in the city is drastically going down. Just by walking around you breathe polluted air. Some kids grow up here and don’t even know what fresh air feels like. The problem is only getting worse and affects everyone that lives in the city. I wish I had the time to work on this problem, but I’m stuck on plastic for the time being. Hopefully this will trigger some of you to get started…
This story originally appeared on Story Hopper, a collection of design stories worth sharing, squeezed into short videos.
http://www.core77.com/posts/55048/Smoked-Out-in-Kathmandu