So, you may have heard that the air in China is becoming so polluted these days that sections of the country are experiencing a heavy cloud cover, blocking out the sun. Yuck. The thick cover is said to be made entirely of smog, as industry is high and a lack of government controls to instill emissions regulations is low, if not non-existent.
The smog is such a problem that people are commuting through busy urban streets in face masks, and trying their best to stay indoors.
But what if the air inside were as bad as the stuff outside? One restaurant has decided it is- and so they invested in an air filtration system to ensure a better experience for customers. The only problem is- they then passed the cost onto clients, without asking.
According to Xinhua news agency reports, until recently, a small fee of $0.15 was being charged to each customer to pay for “air cleaning”- the cost of buying and setting up the new system. The restaurant in Zhangjiagang city, in Jiangsu Province thought it was a fair cost of doing business.
Is it? An article on bbc.com states that a person on the Sina Weibo microblogging site declared, “I’d agree to the fee!”
But not everyone agrees. And unfortunately, that includes the Chinese government.
Following customers’ complaints, the local government told the eatery they had to stop charging the fee, as customers didn’t have a choice in whether or not they could breathe the air when in the restaurant.
But it sets a good example- maybe the government could charge industry for over-polluting. Just an idea.
Photo credit: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock
