Stressed? Try a Breath of Canned Air

Bottled Air

Tight schedule with no time for an outdoor dose of fresh air? Not too worry. Bottled Air brings that breath of fresh air to you, leaving you the time to get your to-do list done.

Yes, bottling fresh air is an actual thing.

In the UK, a study found that 74% of workers feel stressed on a daily basis. (Shocking, we know.) But instead of considering promoting 20 minute breaks for a set of sun salutations or a brisk walk outside, The National Trust has a better solution: offering bottled fresh air to stressed out Londonites.

“With most of us living in an urban environment and having little time to escape to the great outdoors, we thought it was about time the National Trust shared just a fraction of our copious amounts of fresh air with the nation,” says Andrew McLaughlin, Head of Communications at the National Trust.

The fresh air, which comes from three different rural and coastal locations, is bottled in recycled glass jars and is said to “relieve stress for up to ten minutes with each 454 gram jar containing 0.42 grams of fresh air.” And when you’re done enjoying your breath of fresh air, you can reuse that bottle for many things, including “capturing your own locally-sourced fresh air.”

I’m all for providing the tools to allow for a stress-free work environment, but I’m not entirely convinced that it comes bottled in a jar. Yes, fresh air in the countryside is unbeatable, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting out and exploring your urban environment.

Need help? Check out our guide to urban hiking. Or go plan an urban bike ride. Whatever you do, make sure you’re allowing yourself to spend time outside of the cubicle doing something active. That’s much better than sniffing a glass bottle.

Photo Credit: National Trust

Anna Brones

Anna Brones is a food + travel writer with a love for coffee and bikes. She is the author of The Culinary Cyclist and Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. Catch her weekly column, Foodie Underground.