Arab News Japan

DUBAI: Japan Airlines (JAL) along with the trading house Sumitomo launched a yearlong experiment on July 5 as an attempt to promote sustainable tourism.

The whole notion is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by planes traveling to Japan; particularly after the sharp resurgence of the number of people visiting Japan after it opened its doors to tourists post pandemic.

JAL is now offering passengers to travel light, only having to pack basic necessities and leaving the suitcases behind.

Passengers can rent all their clothes a month in advance, to use for two weeks, and have them delivered by a partnering company to any hotel or accommodation and later collected to be washed or recycled.

Passengers can rent outfits by season, color scheme, and formality.

The price of this service is also an appealing factor to leave behind the suitcase and potentially paying more for extra weight; for reference, a woman traveling on a business trip can pay up to 5,000 Yen ($35) for a selection of five tops and three bottoms that includes linen shirts, trousers, and a skirt.

The clothes are a collection of unused excess stock from retailers and/or second-hand garments collected by a partner company.

This is a 13-month long experiment to test whether this approach will actually contribute in reducing the overall weight of passenger luggage hence reducing carbon dioxide emissions by planes.

The clothing rental site that is handling all the retail side of the experiment claims that a 10kg reduction in a passenger’s luggage results in an estimated 7.5kg reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

On a mass scale, this initiative which is called “Any Wear, Anywhere” will  massively contribute to a healthier and a more eco-friendly environment, specially after the 1,191% increase in tourists to Japan compared to the same month a year earlier.