Hampden Elementary Middle School Uses 'Green Wall' To Clean Its Air
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Teachers are always looking for new ways to motivate their students, and at Hampden Elementary Middle School in Baltimore, the solution to a small problem has led to some living teachable moments.
At mid-day, there's little problem, but at the start of the school day buses are lined up and idling.
"A parent reached out and they were concerned because the buses park out front and the diesel fumes... open the doors up and it blows in," said Ray Greenwell.
The solution is in the main hallway: a green wall.
"The green wall will help our school environment, producing clean air and increasing the health of our environment," student Emila Rickey said.
Air is sucked out of the hallway and pumped through the roots of the plants that make up the wall. In the process, each plant cleans 1,000 gallons of air per day.
The retail price of the wall is $5,000, but the builder gave it to the school at his cost.
"It's so amazing," sixth-grader Zion Parran said. "It produces all the energy and the transpiration in the soil and it cleans the oil out of the air and the smoke, so this particular green wall is amazing because I've never seen one like this before."
The project is more than just plants on the wall; it's also a living box of encouragement.
"Kids need to be excited, they have to be ready, awake, and want to know more," Claire McNamara, a Green Team leader, said.
