WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Bottled air

That's right, bottled air. If we keep polluting, then it will one day become a necessary evil. And it's already on the market: just like Aloysius O'Hare did in The Lorax, a Chinese entrepreneur is selling fresh air in soft drinks cans, similar to bottled drinking water, as north China is once again choking in toxic smog. Chen Guangbiao, whose wealth is valued at US$740 million according to the Hurun Report, sells his cans of air for five yuan each. It comes with atmospheric flavours including pristine Tibet, post-industrial Taiwan, and revolutionary Yan'an (named after the Communist Party's early base area). Chen said he wanted to make a point that China's air was turning so bad that the idea of bottled fresh air is no longer fanciful. This could soon become the case elsewhere on our planet, and it should serve as a wake-up call to all polluters. If we don't start caring for the environment, then after 20 or 30 years our children and grandchildren might be wearing gas masks and carrying oxygen tanks.