If we’re all going to drown in ever-rising seas while the land around us burns incessantly until there is nothing left to burn, at least we’re going to be refreshed in the most decadent manner imaginable.
Harrods has this week begun selling Svalbarði “luxury water", for the princely sum of £50 a bottle. Why so expensive? Well, this is no ordinary water, for it is harvested from icebergs from the North Pole.
The product was conceived when Norwegian-American businessman Jamal Qureshi visited a Norwegian island back in 2013 and brought back melted iceberg water for his wife.
He now collects water from icebergs in Kongsfjorden during two expeditions each year, with 15 tons of ice collected by the crew before being melted, then bottled by hand. 13,000 750ml bottles are produced on each trip, with the company saying that the water is almost entirely mineral free, with no nitrates or pollutants. It is preserved by using micron filters and UV light.
The product has come in for criticism already, with critics citing the colossal amount of energy needed to fetch and transport the water, not to mention the insensitivity of charging £50 for the product when millions of people around the world do not have access to clean water.
However, Quereshi told the Guardian, “We’re carbon neutral certified, and we’re supporting renewable energy projects in East Africa and China. We also only take icebergs that are already floating in the water and would usually melt in a few weeks, and that can’t be used for hunting [by polar bears].”
So, that’s, erm, probably fine then?
(Image: Rex)
[via Forbes]
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