Packing for a trip can be a hassle, and staying within the airline’s weight limit can be stressful—but rentals can take that worry away.
Key Details
- Through startup company Mount, customers can rent nearly everything they need for a trip rather than bringing it with them.
- Mount’s goal is that within the next five years, many customers will travel with just a backpack, and carry-on luggage will be a thing of the past.
- As company CEO Madison Rifkin puts it, everyone will be “traveling like a local and not destroying the environment while you do so.”
- The company explains that it envisions “a world where everything can be shared—and nothing needs to be owned (except for toothbrushes).”
- Though rentals are not available to the public yet, the company advertises that it will offer rentals ranging from transportation like bikes to utilities such as grills.
- With Mount’s vision, travelers can access every amenity during their travels.
Why it’s news
Because of cost and environmental considerations, some travelers are giving up flying altogether, but some destinations require flight. That is where a company like Mount comes in.
By traveling with little to no luggage, Mount customers can ease their load. Less luggage means more room for more customers, and more space for customers means airlines can one day schedule fewer flights.
Rentals from locals will also provide customers with a more sustainable option than traditional rental methods. Rifkin draws on her own experience working alongside electric-scooter rental companies Bird and Lime.
“I really got to see firsthand a company that put out a mission to really be sustainable and then do the complete opposite,” Rifkin says of her time working with the scooter companies. “Their scooters lasted about three months on the street and then ended up in a landfill.”
Rifkin originally founded Mount when she was just 12 years old. The company began as a bike-lock company but has evolved to match Rifkin’s changing goals. Recently, Rifkin was a finalist in The Shortyz Rising Star category.
Rather than creating a new physical product, Mount offers customers the option of sustainably using existing products.
With the goal of eliminating carry-on luggage within the next five years, the company is paving the way for a world where travel is more efficient and environmentally conscious. By embracing a sharing economy model, Mount allows travelers to experience destinations like locals while reducing their carbon footprint and is poised to revolutionize travel.
