Air farming: The lucrative business of selling fresh air to those in polluted cities.

By Paige Cockburn.

Increased air pollution around the world is giving rise to a bizarre new industry known as air farming, where bottled fresh air is sold to consumers at a premium.

It may sound like the next big gimmick, but the idea of buying crisp, country air in a jar has proven very popular in heavily-polluted cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

In fact, people are paying upwards of $160 for a single jar of air.

Leo De Watts from Britain has jumped on the bandwagon; selling jars of air collected from locations like Yorkshire, Somerset and Wales.

The air from each region is described in elaborate detail that may be surprising for those who do not consider themselves "air connoisseurs".

Welsh air for example has a "morning dew feel to it" with "vibrant and flavoursome undertones" whilst air originating from Somerset has "unblemished qualities".

Mr De Watts, 27, has sold 180 bottles of such luxury air since his business started up just a few weeks ago.

"Demand has just got so high its outstripping supply," he said.

'When you open it you're in for a real treat'

Clients often request a very particular set of circumstances for their air, Mr De Watts said, meaning "sometimes we'll be at the top of mountain, other times at the bottom of a valley".

"Some people want air collected when it's very windy, some people want still night air."

The product is "cultivated" by air farmers who put bottles in special nets and run through pastures to "harvest" the product.

However Mr De Watts' company is not the first to put a price on oxygen.

Last year, a Canadian start-up which began selling plastic bags of air as a joke on eBay, realised there was a real market for the product when the air sold for 105 pounds ($213).

The company then began bottling air from the Rocky Mountains and selling it in China for 100 Yuan — 33 more times expensive than a bottle of water.

Suggested times you might choose to inhale your treasured bottle of air are when recovering from a hard night of partying, maintaining focus at school or work or while exercising.

"When you open it, you're in for a real treat," said an air farmer from Mr De Watt's business.

Air pollution in China is at extremely hazardous levels and is estimated to kill an average of 4,000 people a day according to a study by Berkley Earth.

This post originally appeared on the ABC and was republished here with full permission. 

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