What do you do when your government won’t address the pressing issue of urban air quality? You fly kites. Kites that are kitted out to measure air pollution. This is precisely what Float Beijing does.
Kite flying is a very traditional activity amongst the Chinese and serves as the perfect medium to get residents involved in something quite worthwhile. Float aims to empower residents and equip them with the knowledge and skills to fly kites and collect data on air quality levels.
Their Kickstarter page says:
Our project has two components: a workshop and a group kite flight that uses a special module developed, which detects carbon monoxide, VOC and particulate matter. The modules are attached to homemade kites and flown into the air. Detection levels are displayed through LED lights that change in color, creating a constellation of air quality indicating lights in the night sky.
It doesn’t matter that residents can’t see the stars at night (due to too much light and air pollution). Their clever little kites light up the night’s sky whilst generating awareness and getting more people involved. What a lovely project.
(All images from Float’s Tumblr)