What does biodiversity loss smell like? Italian supermarket Italmark is offering customers a whiff with its new home fragrance. Dubbed Extinction, the product takes its scent from flowers that grow on Monte Baldo in northern Italy. According to Italmark, more than 40% of all Italian alpine flora can be found on this mountain's slopes, including endemic species of flowers.
It's a treasure trove of biodiversity at risk of disappearing due to climate change. To highlight that danger, Italmark recreated the scent of over 20 of Monte Baldo's flowers and bottled it as Extinction. The reed diffuser went on sale last month for EUR 19.90 in a limited edition of 1,000 bottles.
Italmark's objective is twofold: make its audience aware of the need to preserve fragile ecosystems, and raise funds to protect Monte Baldo. Part of the proceeds will be donated to Cooperativa sociale Il Ponte, which works to safeguard the mountain and manages a botanical garden located at its base.
