Trash: The Unintended Side Effect of Air Travel

When I went to France last month, it was with the intention of being the greenest traveler possible. I ran into problems at the get-go (mostly due to many Ziploc bags that were used to protect my clothing from lotion and soap explosions at 35,000 ft.), but it wasn’t until I was actually on the plane that I realized, with horror, how much waste was being generated by myself and every other passenger on that plane.

Airline meals (copyright GeekSugar)

Enter the snack carts. Plastic cups. Aluminum cans. Mini glass bottles of liquor. Plastic bottles of water. Plastic and/or foil bags of pretzels and nuts. And you think that’s bad? Enter the meal carts. On the  first flight, Northwest Airlines plopped a plastic tray in front of me full of cheese tortellini and kalamata olives. Delicious, I have to say. And the darn cutest little tray ever with little compartments for all the different courses (salad, bread, even a section for the plastic flatware). However, once I finished ripping into this meal (boy, was I starving!), I realized I had a literal mini-mountain of trash on my seatback tray. Everything had come covered or wrapped in plastic. The meal tray, itself, was plastic. Napkins. Plastic forks, knives, and spoons. Plastic cups for water…

Where does this go? I noticed that as they collected our trash, there was no separation of materials. Everything – and I mean everything – went into the same white plastic garbage bags. I was awash in guilt by that point, thinking: Are they going to throw all that AWAY? No recycling? Should I stuff it into my luggage and carry it to Paris and back to Oregon, where I know I can recycle it myself?

I still don’t have answers to all my questions, even after doing lots of internet research on this subject. I have written to Northwest, asking about their recycling program (whether or not they have one, and would they be willing to start one if they don’t), and I will report what they say in a future post. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve got so far from my research:

Northwest Airlines (which has been bought by Delta, and is currently being integrated into the Delta “family”), has been announcing implementation of sweeping recycling programs since about 1992 – but has yet to actually follow through on a consistent basis. According to another blogger, last year, NWA was practicing recycling on SOME flights.

I also came across this document, published in December 2006 by the National Resources Defense Council. It is a little out of date, admittedly, but there is some fascinating information in it! I would highly recommend you read it, if you get the chance (it is just over 50 pages long!). A few highlights:

-The U.S. airline industry discards enough aluminum cans each year to build 58 Boeing 747 airplanes.

-The airline industry discarded 9,000 tons of plastic in 2004 and enough newspapers and magazines to fill a football  field to a depth of more than 230 feet.

-Most of the trash discarded at airports is sent to landfills and incinerators.

-The 30 largest airports in the United States generate an amount of waste equal to that of a city the size of Miami.

-If airports and airlines recycled as much as the average U.S. recycling rate, enough energy would be saved each year to power 20,000 U.S. households, and carbon emissions would be reduced by an amount equal to removing 80,000 cars from the road annually.

I was happy to find that my local (well, semi-local) airport, Portland International (PDX), was mentioned for its efforts to coordinate recycling programs with various airlines. According to city-data.com, “The airport is also extremely green and regularly wins awards for environmental responsibility. Because some of the runways extend partially into the Columbia River, environmental awareness has been part of the airports planning since the beginning. It has a large recycling program and uses natural light and solar power extensively in the new international terminal area.” Go, PDX!

As for recycling on airplanes? I was saddened to find little information on this subject. I found that Congressman Daniel Lipinski (IL) has recently made some great proposals for the airlines. Except for this one: Require Airports to Consider the Implementation of Recycling Programs. REQUIRE them to CONSIDER?! Okay, people, the time to consider is over. Plus, it seems like a waste of time, paperwork, and legislation to require a business to consider something. (Although I applaud Congressman Lipinski for at least taking some steps in the right direction.)

I have heard that Delta has been working on recycling in-flight garbage. I found the posted video on You Tube which, I believe was made about two years ago. Some blogs I’ve encountered have reported witnessing Delta’s recycling program as recently as last month, which gives me some hope! I even found this post on Delta’s blog, from April 2008, describing the airline’s efforts to become more green. Delta and Northwest also implemented a “match-your-dollar” carbon offset program in April 2009.

 

So, the research must continue. I plan on traveling a bit more in the future, and hope that between now and then, I’ll be able to be far more green than I am now! Please comment with any information you have on green travel, airline recycling, and anything else that would be relevant. And stay tuned for NWA’s reply to my recycling questions.

7/16/09 Update: Please check out this post at Crazy Sexy Life about green air travel!

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