Continued from
and was eventually gasping for air. I also never quite got over the feeling that there was a plug stuffed up my nose.
But on a second, longer cycle — from Greenwich to Bank — it did slip my mind I was wearing it. As Collins puts it: “Like contact lenses, there’s a period of getting used to it, but you forget it’s there in the end.” This lasted until, somewhere near London Bridge, my nose started to run. And run. I often find this is a side-effect of exercising in dirty air.
When I extracted the NOSK from my nose, the blue filter had turned grey. This was over the course of a mere 40-minute ride along cycling routes, where you’d hope the air quality would be better than elsewhere.
So is thi s par t of the solution for Londoners? “They have a part to play but we need to recognisese their l i mit a t i o n s , ” s aysys Simon Birkett, founderr and direction of Cleann Air in London. “Theyy need to fit perfectly. Andd t h e y won’t d e a l wi t hh [harmful] gases.”
Birkett believes we needed a t wo-pronged approach:ach: mitigation and adaptation.i ThThe latter means changing your lifestyle: wearing masks or nose filters, working from home, walking down less busy streets and changing your mode of transport (a King’s College and Healthy Air c ampaign study found drivers ac tu ally breathe the worst air). The former requires us to “tackle the problem at its source” — Birkett would like to see a ban on diesel vehicles, and improvements in facilities for ccyclists and pedestrians. The NOSK filter may only be a stastart, but it’ll be back in my nose tomorrow.tomo It will be coming to the UKUK ini theth autumn. “London is our next focus,” says Collins. “We hope we can get into people’s hands — and noses — for smog season.” And then, hopefully, we’ll all be breathing a little easier.
Ellen E Jones
UTUMN is coming. And to a TV fan that’s a much more terrifying prospect than any number of Game of Thrones white walkers stampeding over the horizon. Autumn means the launch of even more television — new Cold Feet! HBO’s Westworld! Narcos season two! There’s just one problem: how will we ever keep up? Thankfully, in this marvellous age of innovation, kitting out your entertainment cave for a period of stylish semihibernation has never been easier. Whatever your tastes and viewing habits, there’s a piece of TV tech for you.