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Last week, I wrote about Alaska Airlines celebrating National Reuse Day (October 20th) by giving passengers the chance to try out reusable r.Cups. The roundtrip flight where these were passed out was part of a feasibility study aimed at exploring new ways to reduce onboard waste. The cups are reusable and are meant to be collected, sanitized, and then reused. I’m not a big fan of this idea and would prefer glass cups, but I realize that this is not feasible for the entire aircraft.
Today, Southwest Airlines announced the introduction of a new bamboo cup for inflight cold beverages and a wooden stir stick with the carrier’s Heart branding for hot beverages. These new products are expected to reduce single-use plastic waste by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.
Overall, Southwest is make an environmental impact with several changes. These include:
- The new cold cup is made from 93% non-plastic materials, with a pulp blend consisting of 75% bamboo and 25% paper and a polyethylene (PE) lining.
- The new stir stick is made from 100% FSC-certified birch wood.
- In July 2024, Southwest transitioned to a paper overwrap for its napkins made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials, fully eliminating plastic from this service item.
- In the near future, Southwest will introduce a new select-a-snack offering on flights to and from Hawaii. This change is anticipated to decrease food waste by at least 18,000 pounds annually.
Alaska and Southwest are not the only carriers attempting to make some green changes. Last year, I wrote about Delta Air Lines testing reusable plastic cups on its flights. This test must not have been that successful as it was never rolled out fully.
Helen Giles, Managing Director of Environmental Sustainability at Southwest Airlines, said:
We expect our new bamboo cold cup, wood stir stick, and other initiatives to exceed our goal to reduce plastics from inflight service by 50% by weight by 2025, and we’re excited to continue collaborating with our suppliers to work toward our goal of fully eliminating, where feasible, single-use plastics from inflight service by 2030. It’s been a year of work since we announced our Nonstop to Net Zero strategy, including our initiatives to tackle single-use plastics in our inflight service. Today’s announcement celebrates the hard work and dedication of many Teams across Southwest to meet these goals.”
Anthony’s Take: I like the idea of these bamboo cups a lot more than the reusable ones that Alaska was testing.
(Featured Image Credit: Southwest Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
