Next time you're at the zoo, make sure to check out its latest installation--a bench that is oh so much more than a bench.
The "Village Green" bench, on loan to the District Department of the Environment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is a solar- and wind-powered air quality monitoring station. You can also sit on it.
It measures particle pollution, ozone, wind speed/direction, temperature, and humidity, and posts the results to a
website in real time (though at the time of publication, the website wasn't displaying any info).
"The Village Green station is a unique resource for helping the District's residents and visitors better understand local air quality so they can protect their families," DDOE director Tommy Wells said in a press release.
According to the EPA, the Village Green bench is also superior to other weather monitoring tools as it can run for up to 90 days without any human supervision.