Making pollution visible: the COM-B framework
Many children in rural Nepal live with chronic respiratory illness caused by soot from biomass cooking stoves, wood and agricultural residue burned indoors. Because the pollution is invisible day to day, families often lack the immediate, felt awareness that would otherwise push them toward cleaner cooking options.
Two-part nudge: an indoor flag near the stove darkens with soot, then moves outside for community comparison.
Indoor nudge
Plain white cotton flags, shaped like traditional lung-ta prayer flags, are hung near the stove in place of the usual coloured ones. Exposed to the smoke, the fabric gradually darkens with soot, turning an invisible risk into something parents can see for themselves.
Outdoor nudge
Once a flag is visibly saturated, it can be moved outside the home. Seeing the exact level of smoke a household has been exposed to, set against neighbouring homes further along in their transition to cleaner cooking, is designed to create a social comparison that motivates the wider community to follow.
The zero-friction kit
To keep adoption as frictionless as possible, flags are designed to be distributed as a simple, ready-to-use kit: a small set of white cotton flags, a length of natural hemp cord, and a wordless, icon-based guide, so installation doesn't depend on literacy. Families are able to put it up themselves, positioning it at a safe, sensible distance from the stove.