Nasal Drops Brand Turns Pollution Into Pencils To Provide Children Cleaner Air

Here’s an unedifying statistic: Every day, an estimated 93% of children across the world breathe in polluted air that’s detrimental to their health and development. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 600,000 young lives were lost to respiratory infections in 2016.

This startling percentage only worsens in India, where it’s believed that 98% of children breathe in toxic air daily not just outdoors, but even in classrooms where kids spend up to eight hours of their day.

As such, nasal drops brand Otrivin has teamed up with creative agency Wunderman Thompson in India and Singapore to launch ‘Pollution Capture Pencils’—specially-commissioned, non-toxic writing instruments made from polluted air collected by air purifiers.

These pencils, distributed to underprivileged children in Bengaluru, serve a double purpose as a fundraising tool. With the proceeds collected from the sale of the stationery, the company hopes to finance more air purifiers to be installed in schools worst hit by polluted air.

According to The Stable, Otrivin’s Actions to Breathe Cleaner program chose Bengaluru as its pilot city as the air in the region is said to be even more polluted than the WHO outlined, with the industrial towns of Peenya, Hegganahalli, and Mallasandra having the poorest air quality.

Through this initiative, the brand is looking to purchase 100 new air purifiers by early this year, so that they can be installed in more schools. Looking to the future, the aim is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem in which the sale of pencils can fund more air purification systems.

Head here for more information on the project. 

[via The Stable and Trend Watching, images via Wunderman Thompson]