While returning from a trip, one might carry decorative items or other mementoes as a memory, but now you can also capture the fresh air. You might be surprised to know, Lake Como in Italy is selling the fresh air of the lake in cans. Italy Comunica, a communications company, says it has bottled the fresh air from Lake Como and is selling the cans for $11 each.

Each can contains 400ml of 100% authentic fresh air collected from Lake Como. The region is famous for its picturesque scenery and beautiful landscapes, making it a perfect destination for tourists. Movies like Casino Royale and House of Gucci were shot there, and celebrities like George and Amal Clooney have homes in the area.

The cans are sold as a "luxurious souvenir," giving tourists a way to take a piece of Lake Como home. They're described as perfect for those who want to capture the peace and beauty of this special place, sealed in a tin.

A spokesperson of Italy Comunica said,” It’s not a product, it’s a tangible memory that you carry in your heart. Once tourists are home and have opened the can, they can repurpose it as a souvenir pen holder.

Not everyone is happy with the idea. Como’s mayor, Alessandro Rapinese, said it wouldn’t be his first choice for a souvenir. He’d rather tourists take home other items, like the region's famous silk scarves.

Talking to news agency CNN he said, “It’s a novel idea, but not for everyone.” “As mayor of one of Italy’s most beautiful cities, if someone wants to take some air home, that’s fine as long as they also take beautiful memories with them.”

When talked about canned air with Chiara Piscitelli, who sells the canned air at her bookstore in Como, she called it a real ‘gadget’.

According to the Lombardy Tourism Bureau, more than 5.6 million people visited Lake Como in 2023, and the numbers continue to rise. To capitalize on the growing interest, marketing specialist Davide Abagnale created an e-commerce site selling Lake Como posters. The idea came to him after seeing so many posters of San Francisco and Los Angeles during his honeymoon in 2022.

It’s not the first time when air is being sold in a can, the idea has been derived from other Italian tourist spots like Naples, where local air has been sold for years, said Abagnale. However, in 2020, a company started selling bottles of ‘authentic’ air from countries like Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland to revive the scent of these overseas at their home.

Iceland also offers cans of air to tourists, while a Canadian company experienced a surge in sales in 2015 when Chinese customers began purchasing cans of air.