CSR / Sustainability
Delta upcycles aircraft seat covers into fashionable bags
18 May 2010 | Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials, which would otherwise go to landfill, into new products or materials of better quality. Companies like Tierra Ideas in the U.S and WornAgain (slogan: “Every product has got a story to tell”) in the UK work with large corporations to create fashionable upcycled products. The benefits are three-fold: waste is recycled, companies add an eco-friendly touch to their brands, and many consumers like the story behind the upcycled product.
Tierra Ideas just announced its new 2010 ‘Aero’ bags collection in partnership with Delta Air Lines. Delta has donated worn and retired seat covers, blankets and curtains from its aircraft as well as from all Northwest aircraft that were refurbished when Delta acquired Northwest in 2008. After separating the fabrics by pattern (frequent fliers will recognize the different Northwest and Delta patterns) Tierra Ideas has turned them into messenger bags (price: USD219), laptop sleeves (USD55), and duffle bags (USD62).
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New terminal at San Francisco Airport gets a green makeover
12 May 2010 | San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is currently renovating its Terminal 2 (T2), which was once the heart of the airport. Scheduled for completion in spring 2011, the new terminal is designed to serve 5.5 million passengers a year and will be the home for Virgin America and American Airlines domestic flights. The goal of the USD383 million renovation is to replace the old structure with a 587,000-square-foot building that sets new green standards.
SFO used the recent Earth Day (22 April 2010) to showcase the environmentally friendly aspects of the new T2 building. The terminal is expected to achieve a silver rating on the LEED green building certification scheme, making it one of the most eco-friendly airport terminals in the U.S. From a construction perspective, the terminal will incorporate energy efficient lighting, which will reduce energy use by 2.9 gigawatt hours a year. The terrazzo flooring inside the terminal will be made from recycled glass chips, and the plumbing system for the toilets is a stand-alone system that will be supplied with reclaimed ‘gray’ water from the airport’s treatment plant. Contractors involved in the renovation project are recycling over 75 percent of all waste from construction.
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JetBlue asks the public to do ‘one thing that is green’
27 April 2010 | Launched as an environmental awareness event in the United States in 1970, Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22 as the birth of the environmental movement. Today, mainly in the U.S, Earth Day is a day to think about the actions people can take to help protect the environment.
In this spirit, JetBlue has kicked off its ‘One Thing That’s Green’ campaign on Earth Day. For the second year, the airline asks customers, crewmembers and communities across its network to join together in pledging to do ‘one thing that is green’ to protect the environment. The carrier says that just by making small changes to daily habits, such as turning off the water when brushing ones teeth, everyone can help make the world a greener place. This year, JetBlue’s own One Thing That’s Green pledge is a donation of one tree to Carbonfund.org for each of its 12,000 crewmembers to further offset carbon emissions.
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Airport vehicles go green
15 April 2010 | Many airlines and airports already try to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from operations on the ground where possible. JetBlue, Air France-KLM and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport are taking another step by introducing non-CO2 emitting ground vehicles.
JetBlue says it has just purchased a new environmentally-friendly utility truck for use by its technical operations team at New York’s JFK airport. The MILES electric work truck’s maximum speed is 25 miles an hour and travels 50-60 miles (80-95 km) on a charge. JetBlue says it plans to purchase additional vehicles to reduce its carbon footprint and consumption of fuel.
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Thai Airways shows CO2 footprint of inflight meals on menu card
24 February 2010 | Thai Airways (THAI) claims to be the first airline in the world to provide carbon footprint information on a number of signature dishes served on board. Since the beginning of 2010, the CO2 impact of two Thai signature dishes – Chicken Mussaman Curry with steamed rice (13.6 kg CO2 e per 250g serving) and Green Curry Kiew-Wan with steamed rice (13.9 kg CO2 e per 250g serving) have been printed on the inflight menu.
THAI says it hopes passengers become more environmentally conscious when they are aware of the amount of greenhouse gasses produced in the choice of meals offered in the menu. The CO2 labelling is the result of THAI’s participation in the Carbon Footprint Technical Cooperation Project for Thai Products, which was initiated by the Thai government.
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Airports reward employees for green commuting
16 February 2010 | As part of their environmental programs, a number of airports are introducing schemes that reduce traffic congestion and environmental impact. Initiatives vary from facilitating employees and customers to share a car when travelling to and from the airport, to rewarding staff and passengers driving a hybrid, electric or other fuel efficient vehicle with designated parking lots located close to the airport terminal or workplace.
Since January 2010, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is rewarding employees working at the airport with the best parking spots on the staff parking areas. Employees that drive a hybrid or small fuel efficient car (emission below 110 gram CO2/km) can apply for a so-called ‘ECO2 parking badge’ which has to be placed behind the front screen of the car.
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Southwest rewards volunteering employees with Tickets 4 Time
10 February 2010 | Southwest Airlines’ ‘Share the Spirit’ program encourages employees to embrace local charities and nonprofits in every destination across the carrier’s network. To pay tribute to its employee volunteers, Southwest Airlines is introducing a new program called ‘Tickets for Time’ (T4T). The T4T program is an addition to the Share the Spirit program and provides one complimentary, roundtrip ticket on Southwest Airlines for fund-raising or transportation needs for every 40 hours a Southwest volunteer dedicated to an organization. A nonprofit organization may receive up to six tickets a year through T4T and the hours can be accrued by one or more volunteers.
T4T puts a nice twist on corporate volunteering programs, since rather than simply match donations, Southwest is offering their employees the opportunity to earn tickets for nonprofit organizations of their choosing. In Southwest’s words: “We know that our employees do so much for so many organizations and T4T is a great way for Southwest to applaud and encourage employee volunteerism.” Last year Southwest staff collectively volunteered more than 35,000 hours to nonprofit organizations across the country, about one volunteer hour to every Southwest employee.
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Cathay Pacific’s ‘I Can Fly’ course teaches young people the basics of aviation
16 December 2009 | Cathay Pacific’s ‘I Can Fly’ program is dedicated to teaching young people between 15 and 18 years old, and who are interested in aviation, the basics of the industry at no cost. ‘I Can Fly’ was launched in 2003 and every other year, several courses are organized, with 3,000 ‘students’ participating to date in Hong Kong. The carrier has just announced the fourth ‘I Can Fly’ series, which will start in February 2010. Hong Kong youth can apply until 25th December of this year, and 100 participants will be selected.
Enrolling in the ‘I Can Fly’ program is by no means a free ride. The course runs for nine weeks, with once-a-week nightly classes, and includes airport visits, one weekend of community service, and workshops with staff from Cathay’s engineering, flight control, marketing and catering departments, as well as pilots and cabin crew. As part of Cathay’s community program, Cathay Pacific staff volunteer their time to the course.
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Qantas launches onboard recycling scheme
10 December 2009 | Qantas has just rolled out an inflight recycling scheme on its domestic routes. The airline is asking passengers to assist by separating their recyclable items for collection by the cabin crew, and place all other items in a special bag. Qantas says its onboard recycling initiative gives passengers the opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of their journey. With the new program the airline plans to recycle approximately eight-and-a-half million bottles, cups, tumblers and cans per year from its domestic services. Qantas says it already recycles newspapers on board (nearly 500 tonnes a year in Sydney and Melbourne) and glass and plastic bottles, papers and cans are recycled in Qantas Club lounges. Overall, Qantas aims to achieve a 25 per cent reduction in landfill use by 2011.
Qantas’ inflight recycling initiative follows earlier trials by Virgin Blue in which cabin crew were trained to separate recyclable waste from food scraps and other matter while collecting passengers’ rubbish before landing. A few years ago the airline also installed recycling bins at Sydney Airport.
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KLM first to carry passengers in biofuel flight
24 November 2009 | KLM yesterday operated the first biofuel test flight in which passengers were aboard, flying a Boeing 747-400 with one engine powered by a 50:50 mix of a camelina-based biofuel and traditional kerosene. The flight took off from Amsterdam Schiphol and carried 40 select passengers, including KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman, technical experts and a number of Dutch politicians. The aircraft stayed in the air for about 1.5 hour before returning to Amsterdam. The biofuel used on the KLM flight is believed to emit up to 80 percent less carbon dioxide than conventional kerosene.
The KLM demonstration is the fifth biofuel-blend test flight in the past two years. Previous biofuel test flights, operated without passengers, were conducted by Japan Airlines, Continental Airlines, Air New Zealand, and Virgin Atlantic. The aviation industry has rallied behind development of drop-in replacement jet fuel derived from plants, such as camelina and jathropa: Inedible green scrubs that provide high energy content, which can be grown on marginal land not being used for food crops. Boeing is also looking into developing fuels produced from algae.
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Southwest’s ‘Green Plane’ to test eco-friendly interior materials
22 October 2009 | Southwest Airlines has designated a 4-year old Boeing 737-700 ‘Green Plane’ to serve as a test-aircraft for a series of sustainable interior materials. For example, a 100 percent recyclable carpet is installed in sections, eliminating the need for total replacement of areas such as aisles, where Southwest currently uses 1 single piece of carpet. The carpet is returned to the manufacturer at the end of its service life and completely re-manufactured into new carpet. Also, two new leather seat covers (one recycled and one a leather substitute) will be tested, which are more durable and almost two pounds per seat lighter. To reduce weight, a lighter weight fill from foam in the back of the seats reduces weight, as well as life vest pouches made from canvas, instead of metal.
Overall, the uses more weigh-efficient materials save the new plane approximately five pounds (2.3 kg) per seat, adding up to about a 472-pound (214 kg) difference, which is said to reduce 9,500 gallons (nearly 36,000 liters) of fuel each year. Additionally, Southwest expects the eco-friendly products to be more durable, which will save on materials and labor.
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Travellers can off-set their CO2 emissions using self-service kiosks at SFO International Airport
Pictures courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle and CleanTechnica
5 October 2009 | San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has installed self-service kiosks that enable passengers to offset the carbon emissions of their flight. Three so-called ‘Climate Passport’ kiosks are located beyond security checkpoints in the domestic and international terminals. The touch screen kiosks determine how many pounds of carbon dioxide a trip will produce, and then calculate the sum an environmentally conscious traveler should contribute reduce greenhouse gases.
Paying at the kiosks is relatively simple. Travelers enter their flight’s origin and destination, their number of passengers and whether they plan to fly round-trip. The machine then calculates a fee that can be paid via credit card to counteract the carbon emitted into the atmosphere during their trip. The kiosk shows how many pounds of carbon dioxide each passenger is responsible for, then charges USD13.50 per ton of emissions. For example, a passenger flying round-trip from San Francisco to JFK in New York would be responsible for offsetting 3,824 pounds of carbon dioxide at a cost of USD23.42. For every USD13.50 collected, USD12 goes toward reforestation efforts to suck up carbon dioxide at the 23,780-acre Garcia River Forest in Mendocino County, California, and USD1.50 helps fund San Francisco’s green initiatives, which thus far has helped fund a biodiesel business and tree plantings in the city.
The voluntary program for travelers is the first of its kind among U.S. airports. According to San Francisco airport: “We felt it was a good public service for our passengers and for the environment”. The airport anticipates the kiosks will take a while to catch on, and will monitor purchases made at the machines monthly. Travelers can also access the Climate Passport program through SFO’s website (http://sfo.3degreesinc.com). In May 2007, Eindhoven Airport, a regional airport in the Netherlands, was the first airport in the world to install a CO2 offset kiosk.
Air France-KLM pilots emission-free airport vehicle
27 September 2009 | Motor Development International (MDI), which is run by a former aeronautics and Formula 1 engineer, has developed a zero-emission vehicle that runs on compressed air and is called the Airpod. The fiberglass-and-foam bodied AirPod can carry three people and is about 2 meters (6 feet) long and weighs roughly 220 kilos (450 pounds). The AirPod has a very small turning circle and is driven with one hand using a joystick system. Its air tank holds 175 liters of compressed air, which can be filled to 350 bar (5,076 psi) in as little as 90 seconds. That’s enough to give the AirPod a range of over 200 km (135 miles) and a top speed of almost 70 km an hour (43 mph).
The vehicles will be tested by Air France-KLM at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. The carriers will use seven of the vehicles to transport passengers and light cargo at the airports. The AirPods slated for airport duty will be the first operational version of the concept in use. Two AirPods will perform tests for a minimum period of three months in the premises of KLM Egineering & Maintenance. One AirPod is adapted to transport parts and maintenance equipment and the other the transport of persons. The purpose of the use of AirPod is to reduce CO2 emissions on a portion of the distribution chain for which KLM is currently using traditional cars and trucks that run on diesel. Air France Industries is still waiting for the official document of approval to begin testing the AirPod.
