Hasta La Ideas

Image by Reuters, via SMH

Cycling has long been regarded as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-based modes of transportation, but in rapidly modernizing Chinese cities, the boom in the latter has discouraged the prevalence of the former. Beijing, for one, is notorious for its poor air quality, which typically hovers at the threshold of being a full-fledged public health hazard. Hence, a Chinese millionaire is now hawking canned air at 5RMB (80¢) a pop¹ in a highly publicized campaign to raise awareness about the oppressive atmosphere of the capital city (so to speak).²

Yet the bicycle remains an inexpensive, efficient and altogether practical option for many of the city’s 20 million residents, perhaps now more than ever before, considering that automobiles clog major thoroughfares around the clock (lest we forget the infamous ten-day traffic jam from last August). Beijing-based artist Matt Hope has come up with a clever solution: he’s rigged up a homemade 5,000V air filter to his bicycle, and it’s pretty rad:

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