We've all heard of places where pollution and scarcity have forced people to purchase bottled water. But could bottled air be next? According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, residents in China's Henan province received a "treat" last weekend when they had the opportunity to line up for a breath of clean air.

A Henan travel agency brought in twenty bags of air as a publicity campaign to encourage the impoverished, smog-ridden community to take a load off and visit Laojun Mountain. According to the article, the few lucky residents, who were limited to a few minutes each with the bag, "tried to wring the bags in order to extract every bit of air possible."

If photos of people hungrily breathing in clean air aren't enough of a wake-up call, consider that Henan has been selling canned air to its residents for more than a year. The province is one of the most polluted areas of the world, but it may not be long before we see this trend happening closer to home.

Kaitlin Roberts