Our air is being sold to China

Air pollution is a huge issue faced by China, as their population turns to constantly wearing face masks instead of breathing in the toxic air. Late last year the air pollution level in China was raised to the highest possible level, orange, and was the first time that classification had been used. It was reported that some people were literally choking on the thick, grey air, and apparently 1.6 million people are killed yearly because of its toxicity.

So what do these entrepreneurs do? Bottle Australian air and sell it to China, obviously. John Dickinson and Theo Ruygrok are the founders of a business called Green Clean Air, and its sole purpose is to bottle the fresh Australian air to send overseas and be sold to the people struggling through the pollution in China. Chinese consumers can buy air from specific areas such as Bondi Beach, Blue Mountains and the Gold Coast, apparently each having their own unique ‘flavour’.

The bottles will sell for just under $20 each and contain about 130 human breaths of that sweet, sweet Aussie air. Although it might seem bizarre for those of us sitting in the comfort of Australia to read about Chinese people literally buying and breathing our air, they are living in an epidemic where they can barely see ahead of them and their air is riddled with toxins that ultimately lead to an earlier death. These comparison images from the World Air Quality Index shows just how privileged Australians are.