The pollution levels in Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, peaked at 14-16 times safe limits during this Diwali.
At a time when cities across the world over are grappling with the growing menace of air pollution, and people are being exposed to harmful pollutants, comes an idea which is beyond surprising.
Bottled air is a reality that may soon come to India.
Several companies are cashing in on the demand for fresh bottled air in different countries.
The market for packaged air is booming in China, according to a Mashable report. Vitality Air, another company, is making its way quickly to meet the demand in China. Harrison Wang, China representative for Vitality Air said, “Our Chinese website keeps crashing. We are getting orders from all over the country, not just from the wealthier cities. When the air is bad, we see spikes in sales.”
Green and Clean/Facebook
According to a New York Times article, “An Australian company is hawking six-packs of air bottled in places like Bondi Beach in Sydney or the eucalyptus-covered Blue Mountains”.
A Canadian firm too, is making a good deal by selling packs of air from the Rocky Mountains and marketing it as a “a shot of nature”.
A British company named Aethaer, is in the league as well. To avail the business opportunity in promising markets like China, the company is looking at turning the product into a popular luxury item.
“The company sells glass jars holding 580 milliliters (a bit more than a pint) of air from Wales with a “morning dew feel”, according to its website for 80 pounds, or $97,” reported NYT.
vitalityair.com
Green and Clean Air, an Australian company, is selling canned Australian air in China. Entrepreneurs John Dickinson and Theo Ruygrok conceived the idea around one year ago, after “Ruygrok looked at the sky and mused about the difference in air quality when he arrived home from China to Australia”, Mashable.com reported.
Smog in Delhi; PTI
There is a huge market for tools to fight the havoc of air pollution, and cashing in on the “rare commodity”, as Leo De Watts, the 28-year-old founder of Aethaer calls it, companies are making efforts to tap the market in Southeast Asian countries.
The NYT report states that while many are buying bottled air as “gag gifts”, some actually find it refreshing.
“It makes my lungs feel clean. It might just be my imagination, but I’m willing to try anything,” Pan Li, who lives in Beijing and buys six-bottles a month, told the paper.
However, bottled air is no substitute for the natural atmosphere, as an individual requires a minimum of eight to 10 packed bottles every minute to breathe.
Going by the NYT statistics, the business is catching up, as companies like Green and Clean, are looking forward to transport about “40,000 containers a month to China starting in December, and then expand to India, Malaysia, Chile and the Middle East”.