Hello everyone! Previously, we have considered not only tourism’s contribution to air pollution and its harms to ourselves and the environment, but also air pollution’s negative impact on tourism. What can be done about the sketchy air pollution and rejuvenate the decline of tourism due to it, you may ask? A very creative solution comes in the form of ink!
AIR-INK, by GRAVIKY LABS, is the world’s first ink made out of air pollution, or more specifically, the carbon in unburnt soot that comes from car exhaust, chimneys etc. Air pollution is extracted using a device called KAALINK retrofitted to exhaust pipes of vehicles or generators to capture the already emitted pollution. The upcycled carbon emissions are converted into ink suitable for all sorts of purposes such as industrial printing, packaging and even art.
It is said that 30ml of AIR-INK can remove 45 minutes worth of car pollution. Thus, you can imagine just how much more pollution is cut by converting these harmful pollutants into useful and environmentally sustainable ink.
What started as an experiment in an MIT Media Lab has turned into a game-changing invention that can help reduce the impact of carbon emissions and air pollution on the environment and on human health.
AIR-INK seeks to partner with businesses to minimise the carbon footprint of the supply chains of these corporations. Some of their partners include Mastercard and Heineken.
How is this related to tourism?
AIR-INK can provide a more environmentally sustainable substitute to many tourist businesses and operators seeking to reduce their environmental impact and contribution to pollution. Tourist products such as brochures, maps and guides can be printed with AIR-INK, or even t-shirts as souvenirs. Apart from carbon footprint, using AIR-INK will also reduce these businesses’ long term operational costs. Using a more innovative and environmentally friendly option can aid in boosting the brand image of these tourist businesses as well. If all, or at least most, tourism businesses work towards cutting their carbon footprint and reducing their contribution to air pollution, the amounts of pollutants emitted by the industry and probably level of air pollution will be greatly reduced.
Another way AIR-INK can make a big contribution to the tourism industry is becoming a tourists attraction itself! The products are used by many artists and could be used to make beautiful murals in many parts of the world. Many murals in cities such as San Francisco have become popular tourist sites, so why not combine environmental sustainability, by reducing air pollution, with art and tourism!
With innovative inventions like AIR-INK, tourism has the opportunity to not only regain the tourist dollar deterred by pollution but also make the environment safer and cleaner rather than contributing to the pollution.
References
GRAVIKY LABS, webpage, viewed on 29 September 2020, https://www.graviky.com/
‘AIR-INK: The world’s first ink made out of air pollution’ 2017, Kickstarter, viewed on 29 September 2020, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1295587226/air-ink-the-worlds-first-ink-made-out-of-air-pollu