Covid-19 has the world firmly in its grip. In Germany, public life is paralyzed. Curfews are imposed. The DAX loses 40 percent of its value in one month. It’s a new world and our society is facing new challenges. We, as a young biotech company with an ecological mindset, are not unaffected. But: our mosses continue to grow and we are just finishing several CityTrees for upcoming projects.

This crisis is affecting companies and each and every one of us. At Green City Solutions, we are learning to adapt to working from home, quarantine and “desocializing.” We are learning what it is like to not sit right next to our work colleagues, to only leave the house once a day, and to not be able to visit our loved ones.

In times like these, it’s important to get back to the essentials. Everyone has more time for reflection and is guided even more than usual by his/her individual values such as optimism or sustainability. But it is also true: we are affected together and make the best of it together.

Covid-19 will not be the last virus to affect our lives. Climate change, through heat waves, air pollution and more, can increase the spread and scale of such pandemics. And while most of our energy is rightly going into fighting the virus and personally coping with quarantine, it must be all the more clear how we can make better choices in the future to protect ourselves from new crises.

The core of our work at Green City Solutions is to improve air quality, and we are now even more aware of how important our mission is! Initial studies from research teams around the world indicate a clear link between fine dust pollution and higher mortality rates from Covid-19. A Harvard study demonstrates that an increase in PM2.5 of just 1 μg/m³ is associated with an 8% increase in COVID-19 death rates. Poor air quality thus promotes lung and respiratory diseases in particular, in addition to cardiac arrhythmias and dementia. These are the very exposures that now make our families, friends and neighbors at risk. Let’s work together to counteract these effects. We stand for sustainable clean and healthy air, and we’re putting all our energy into making it happen. We bring nature back to the city: now more than ever!

For us, this means: we are now even more motivated to make our contribution. Because there’s more to our natural superhero moss than meets the eye! Mosses bind fine dust, some are antiseptic, antiviral and fungicidal; true all-rounders for air pollution control and health. With IoT technology, or more precisely the interaction of sensors, intelligent ventilation, irrigation and software, we can really “activate” this natural cleaning power, i.e. make it usable.

This is our contribution to a sustainably healthy society, our contribution to a long-term goal: Fresh air for everyone.

Companies all over the world are struggling with the consequences of the Corona Virus and of course we are also affected by the crisis. Even though we, as a young, technology-driven company, live digitalization with and without the crisis and our nearly 30 colleagues are used to working remotely, adaptation is necessary for us. Nevertheless, we are convinced that startups in particular can do great things in overcoming the crisis! Because startups are masters at solving difficult problems quickly. This is why we have joined the Startups Against Corona initiative! Our goal is to act fast with the help of this initiative and join forces with other companies and startups to support each other.

The business is up and running, the team is motivated and looking forward. We’re making the most of it.

It’s easy to be stressed by the news and the situation. We have it easy: every time we get stressed, we just stick our nose in the moss (each in our own, of course!). If you need a few minutes to breathe and don’t have any moss handy, click here for a breathing exercise to relax.

Stay healthy and look forward. We do the same and continue to work on our technology, according to our motto:

We grow fresh air.