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Today, Japan Airlines announced that they’re offering travellers the option to rent clothes instead of flying with all that checked luggage. The Strawman’s intrigued…

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Dressed for Success

Pack your passport, your sunscreen and your paper straws, we’re going on holiday.

This week, Japan Airlines announced that tourists will now be able to reduce baggage by renting clothes on arrival in Japan.

We hate waiting for checked baggage as much as the next straw but the new announcement was unexpected.

Over the next 12 months, the airline will propose this option for all passengers and track whether the scheme can reduce the weight of passenger bags.

They argue that a 10KG reduction in flight passenger luggage is worth 7.5KG of CO2 emissions.

It’s pretty affordable at $30-50 for enough clothes for a week, and the airline assures potential customers - they’ve got any style you’re going for.

It’s a bold idea but are they just asking you to skip laundry to go greenwashing?

The reality is that a flight from London to Tokyo is already emitting over 1,000 KG of CO2. We’re not saying that every little doesn’t help but it’s likely that this isn’t the green bullet to hitting Net Zero.

That said, the move promotes a sustainable lifestyle and could have knock-on effects on other consumer behaviours.

On top of this, they have a full recycling process and are ensuring the clothes are utilised completely. Maybe let’s give Japan Airlines the benefit of the doubt on this one and see what the results say 12 months from now…

We’re all for experiments but it seems like Japan Airline’s ESG team must be running out of ideas - next time, they should give the Strawman a call.

Peace,

The Strawman