A quick breath of fresh air

Bottled air - "..if you don't open it, it lasts for a life time," says [bottler?] Claes Ruderstam.  

  • Claes Ruderstam, above, sells bottled air from Vittsjö, Skåne. He has also written a book about the area. Photo courtesy of NorraSkåne.se

  • Bottled air from Skåne
    Thought you’d read everything? Then here’s something for you: Bottled air straight from Vittsjö in Skåne (or Scania, southern Sweden). Claes Ruderstam is the man who bottles and sells the air. How does one consume a product like this metro.se asked Ruderstam? “
    You open the lid and get a dose, then the bottle is filled with other air. You could call it a one-time product, but if you don’t open it, it lasts for a life time.” Ruderstam says this is not his idea to begin with. “Vittsjö,” he explains, “is an old spa town, and for a while in the 1990’s there were bottles with Vittsjö air. I thought it was time I try it, so I bought some nice bottles at Ikea and made labels.”
    Ruderstam doesn’t want to reveal exactly where in Vittsjö he collected the air. “Perhaps I ought to have been a bit more careful. But I don’t view this as a business idea, but more as a gimmick for the area.” And who are his potential customers? “There’s a very popular resting area here, so perhaps tourists in cars want to buy a bottle to bring home. If people can sell moose poop to Germans, then it should be possible to sell Vittsjö air.” The bottled air is available at Vittsjö camping and at Vittsjö GIK’s women’s soccer team, though for how much it doesn’t say. Claes Ruderstam, who obviously has a strong love for Vittsjö, has also written a book about the area and the air there called “Vittsjöluft” (Vittsjö air), which chronicles life in 44 villages of the parish.

  • We'll keep you posted regarding availability of the fresh air in the U.S... definitely something for your friends in LA this Christmas!

  • Vittsjö is part of the district surrounding Hässleholm, read more here: Vittsjö, population 2,600 (in Swedish only) For those of you in the know, musician "Peps" Persson is among the inhabitants here, as is Sweden's tallest man, former basket ball player Per-Ola Karlsson.

  • It has its own web based newspaper so just in case you want to find out more and read Swedish... Vittsjobjarnum.nu