Mainland China has recently been shrouded in smog, with many provinces besides Beijing also affected. A Canadian company selling bottled fresh air says that due to the smog in China, the number of Chinese customers has increased recently, with a bottle of fresh air costing between US$15 and US$46.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), two Canadian men have started a startup that packages fresh air from the Rocky Mountains and sells it to customers in countries with poor air quality, such as China.
This company collects fresh air from the Banff Mountains and Lake Louise, and prices range from $15 to $46 depending on the bottle size. A $15 bottle contains approximately 150 breaths, with a maximum of 200 breaths.
Parker previously stated that when he and Moses, another co-founder of the company, started selling air, it was somewhat of a joke. They filled Ziploc bags with air and then sold them on eBay. Lin said that after sealing the air, they would label it. A month later, the first bag of air sold for 99 cents, and the second bag immediately sold for $168.
Company co-founder Moses told CBC that collecting fresh air is a long and tedious process. "We collect air in Banff for about ten hours, then bring back large amounts of air and fill these bottles with it."
Regarding how the company bottles air, Moses stated that it's a trade secret. He said, "However, I can assure you that we're not just sitting outside, waving our hands and grabbing air."
In addition to Chinese clients, the company's overseas buyers include countries such as Iran and Afghanistan, most of which are countries with severe air pollution.
With Taiwan's air quality declining, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may be able to combine existing technologies with innovative ideas to prevent or mitigate the potential harm that smog may cause to human health, thereby creating new environmental business opportunities for their businesses.
Sources:Environmental Information Center(2015-12-14)
