A breath of fresh air as Marches LEP helps fund pioneering moss filters

Two new moss filters are being installed in Hereford under an innovative environmental scheme supported by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership.

Following the introduction of the first moss filter in Hereford in the summer, two further moss filters are now being installed in the city.

The Marches LEP has jointly funded the trees – which use specially selected mosses to help absorb pollution – with Herefordshire Council as part of the ongoing £6million Hereford City Centre Improvement project.

The first was installed at Eign Gate last June, where it has been working to naturally clean the air around it and provide a pleasant place to sit.

The two new filters are currently being fitted outside The Courtyard and in Eign St, by the Great Western Way underpass traffic light junction.

The new, innovative moss filters being installed in Hereford each take up about the same amount of space as one tree, however due to the enormous surface area of moss, a moss filter is more efficient at filtering the air. Each moss filter can clean about 80% of fine dust and particles from the air around it.

Air pollution causes heart and lung disease and results in between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths every year in the UK (Gov.uk). Clean air is essential for our health, and clean air measures are good for our wellbeing as well as being good for the planet.

Moss is one of nature’s best air filters with the ability to absorb and metabolise fine dust and particles, helping to naturally clean the air we breathe. Moss also stores and evaporates large amounts of moisture which cools the air.