Aviation is a major environmental problem, contributing to 2.5% of global emissions on its own. That might not seem like a lot, but accounting for over a fiftieth of the total is pretty dramatic. After all, there are so many carbon emission sources out there that even accounting for a single percent is significant.
For various reasons, including customer pressure, corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles, and reputation, many airlines have been exploring ways to cut back on their environmental impacts.
Cutting back on flights and fuel consumption aren’t really on their agenda, save for waiting for technological innovations to help solve the problems, so attention is paid to things like waste and offsetting.
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Where the waste issue is concerned, British Airways (BA) has issued a trial on three of its routes aimed at cutting plastic use.
The sustainability trial covers economy passengers travelling between Heathrow and Miami, Boston or Los Angeles, and it hasn’t gone down well with some customers.
During the trial, economy passengers on those flights won’t be provided with plastic bottles of water.
Instead, passengers are being provided with paper cups during the trial.
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The trial doesn’t apply to BA’s Club World or first-class passengers which, considering wealth doesn’t preclude your individual responsibility to the environment, seems a touch unfair.
A passenger who flew from Miami to Heathrow took to FlyerTalk to air their irritation at the move, saying it was a 'cost-saving exercise under the guise of saving the polar bears'.
They continued: “All I asked for was a bottle of water and the response astounded me. I thought I had heard it all. Clearly not.
“I was told there were no bottles of water they could give me as BA is trialling not offering any bottles of water. Unbelievable”.
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Passengers can, of course, bring empty water bottles through security and then refill them at water fountains before your flight. If you’ve already joined the stainless steel bottle club, it’s unlikely to cause you much grief.
The trial only ran for one week, beginning on June 16th and ending on June 22nd, and it’s unclear whether BA will pursue the measure on a permanent basis.
A spokesperson for BA told FOODBible: "This was a one-week trial on three routes as part of efforts to reduce plastic waste. The views of our customers are very important to us and we’ll be listening very carefully to their feedback."
Rachael Davis