Japan Airlines’ Meal Skip Option Is A Step Toward Sustainable Travels

An In-Flight Meal Skip Option Is Japan Airlines’ Next Step Toward Sustainability

Help Japan Airlines fly more sustainably by refusing your meal ahead of time.
Alyosha RobillosAlyosha RobillosDec 28th, 2020

Japan Airlines (JAL) amps up its sustainability efforts yet again — this time by offering the “Ethical Choice Meal Skip” option. It’s exactly what it sounds like: the more environmentally sound choice of skipping your in-flight meal to help JAL lessen food waste.

To be clear, JAL isn’t discouraging passengers from munching on their bento-inspired dishes while up in the air. We know most of you will feel like it’s just too good a treat to pass up. This is simply a reminder to only order food that you can finish down to the last morsel in a step towards flying more sustainably.

If, for example, you plan on sleeping all throughout your flight, then perhaps the Meal Skip option is the better choice. That way, you get the rest you deserve, and JAL deals with less food waste by the end of the flight.

Also read: 12 Habits We Can Quit For More Eco-Friendly Travels

How to participate in the Ethical Choice Meal Skip

meal skip option

Image credit: Japan Airlines Official Website

To take part in the Meal Skip advocacy, be sure to visit the JAL website at least 25 hours before departure and tick the “No Meal” option. By doing this, JAL assures you of uninterrupted rest all throughout your flight — plus, the chance to help JAL lessen overall waste from daily flights.

In place of a meal, JAL provides those who opt for the Ethical Choice Meal Skip a JAL amenity kit, which includes toiletries for a more restful flight.

meal skip option

The contents of JAL’s amenity kits change depending on the season. | Image credit: Japan Airlines

Take note, though, that the JAL website lists the following among those who cannot avail of the Ethical Choice Meal Skip:

  • A passenger who has “reserved a special meal that cannot be reserved on JAL website.”
  • A passenger who has “booked a tour package (group tour).”
  • A passenger with a booking that “includes a flight whose schedule has changed.”
  • A passenger who “has booked codeshare flights operated by JAL but bearing a flight number of another airline.”
  • A passenger with “flights in waitlist.”

Just a part of JAL’s journey toward sustainable travel

“Ethical Choice Meal Skip” is the newest addition to JAL’s sustainability efforts called Effective Utilization of Resources. These sustainability initiatives are hinged on the 4 Rs: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle.

Aside from their efforts to save water resources, reduce plastic usage, and promote paperless operations, JAL also recycles uniforms for vehicle insulation. Click here to know more about JAL’s Effective Utilization of Resources. 

Now that you know more about JAL’s sustainability efforts, maybe this could be something to consider the next time you find yourself choosing between airlines. When you can, make the better choice. Fly with a heart for the environment. After all, we travellers roam this Earth with unparalleled eagerness — it’s high time we take better care of it, too.

About Author

Alyosha Robillos
Alyosha Robillos

In Russia, Alyosha is a boy's name popularised by literary greats Dostoevsky and Tolstoy—but this particular Alyosha is neither Russian nor a boy. She is a writer from the Philippines who loves exploring the world as much as she likes staying at home. Her life's mission is to pet every friendly critter there is. When she isn't busy doing that, she sniffs out stories and scribbles away on the backs of old receipts. She is an advocate of many things: culture and heritage, the environment, skincare and snacking, to name a few. She will work for lifetime supplies of french fries and coffee. Or yogurt. Or cheese, preferably Brie.

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