The way we all do travel is one of those global things that need to be updated by next year.
Have you ever seen how much plastic and waste is created from more than a three hour flight? Even on short flights, everything you touch, eat or use comes wrapped in plastic.
Admittedly, now more than ever, those kinds of items in public environments must be covered for your own health and safety. But what if they were wrapped or distributed in a different way? It will be great to see some effort from airlines, not to enhance our flying experience but to do better for the planet.
The first thing that comes to mind is recycling — I doubt any of it takes place. Because at one point in your flight, there is a flight attendant walking through the aisle with a trash bag in which lies everyone’s waste, compost and recyclable alike. Why not recollect the different categories of trash individually? If it is a matter of passenger cooperation, then the solution is an airline policy. If the problem lies with the flight attendants, then it is a question of training. But how hard could it be for an adult qualified for flight services to distinguish one kind of trash from the other?
Another thing that bothers me a lot is all the plastic used to give you meals on long flights. Every single item comes in plastic wrappers, inside a big plastic container. Imagine if it came in a biodegradable package, and to replace all those individual wrappings, they just add a small, thin protective cover on top of your food along with the main lid.
Or if it’s too much of a change, because extra costs are involved, airlines could start by simply offering recycling services and biodegradable cups and utensils.
We’re already doing significant harm to the planet. What decent reason could there be for not trying to reverse it, especially if the method is as simple as changing certain in-flight features?
