Australian business sells fresh air to China for $18.80 a can

A visit to China in 2015 made Theo Ruygrok realise how clean Australian air is. That spurred Ruygrok and John Dickinson to establish Green and Clean Air which exports Australian air to China for $18.80.

Employees of Green and Clean Air collect the air from various locations in Australia such as the Blue Mountain, Bondi Beach, Tasmania and Gold Coast. The company also sells canned New Zealand air, reports Mashable.

The business made Ruygrok appreciate more living in Australia which he says is a paradise. “What we are really trying to accomplish is: you know when you go to a pristine location early in the morning and you take that deep, first breath of air and you get that really alive and invigorating feeling? That is what we think we have captured and this is the excitement of it.”

The company uses a custom-built machine to collect clean air into disposable cans. Each can allows the user 130 to 140 deep breaths by attaching a plastic face mask to breathe in the fresh air through the mouth and nose.

Ruygrok points out that because the air they collect varies according to location, the company packages its canned air in flavours such as sea breeze, eucalyptus, mountain air and coast air. The two initially intended the product as a novelty souvenir item to sell to tourists, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Chinese entrepreneurs who live in the countryside also sell fresh Chinese air to city dwellers. Also in 2015, Vitality Air in Canada collected clean air from Banff in Alberta and Lake Louis in Banff National Park and exported it to China. It would surely be a thriving market since bad air quality kills more than 1.6 million Chinese yearly.