AT LEAST AIR IS FREE, YES?
I am always fascinated by the most trivial things. For example, I just received a parcel that contained a large folder, protected by a number of index-card-sized bags of air. What really interests me is just the thought that someone, somewhere, actually sat down and thought "Hey, maybe I could make a small bag filled with air and sell it to make money."

Within minutes of receiving the package, I was at the home page for Sealed Air, a company that makes such products. Here, you can buy bucketloads of products that involve packaging and air, from bubble-wrap to Jiffy mailers. Amazing! I mean, there's a whole new world of stuff that I knew nothing about.

It seems that I can buy a machine that makes these bags as I need them. The bags themselves come on a roll - a bit like toilet tissue - and you run them through big rollers, which then inflates them with air.

Using this type of air bag approach saves wastage. Imagine using those Styrofoam "peanut" to pack things and then estimate the space they take up. When you unpack, you have to dispose of these somehow, but their mass remains. However, with the air bags, popping them releases the air and results in less mass to be disposed of.

But wait - there's more! If you are truly on the green kick, you can actually recycle the bags at special "Sealed Air©" facilities, thus doing your bit for the environment.

Now this idea has to rank up there with the "Why-don't-I-put-plain-water-in-a-bottle-and-charge-more-than-gasoline-for-it" idea. Having folks pay for air - it's simply brilliant!

Alas, I've missed the inventing boat with this one. Like most people, I will just have to be content with dreaming about making that one-special-thing that everyone needs, is simple to make, but for which I can charge lots of money.