So I have been doing a lot of travelling lately and I thought I would post two quick observations. Both airlines and hotels have very easy opportunities to recycle and conserve that they miss. First, when airlines come around and collect trash, with the exception of newspapers, airlines simply don't recycle, and many airlines don't even recycle newspapers. How many times do they comes through the aisles at the end of the flight asking you one more time if you have any trash? Are you telling me ONE of those times can't be an attendant coming through with recycling? The implementation would be virtually as easy as the idea. They make one of those trash bins at the front or back of the airplane recycling instead. When they reach the ground the recycling is carried away to a central airport location where recycling is collected. It would be hard to imagine that most airport locations don't have recycling available. Sure they might have to expand their capacity for taking in and transporting that recycling. But what's the worst that could happen, you give a few people a job?
Next, hotels miss obvious opportunities to conserve. First, it should be policy not to collect trash cans with virtually no trash in them. Stop thinking you are doing me a favor and being extra nice by taking my trash from the room when there are 2 pieces of garbage in there! Next, cleaning staff seem to be trained to simply to throw the plastic trash bags into a larger plastic trash bag and move on. That's an enormous watse of oil-based plastic material, and as we know, extraorinarily damaging to the environment. Solution- dump the trash into the big trash bag and unless there is something fowl enough to stink up the room or make the othe rbag unusable- leave the trash bag in there at least until that person checks out.
Two little things about conserving in the travel and tourism business. More to come...
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You're 100% on. I've tried to make this argument to my management before. They say it would add costs so of course they don't want to do it. I admit airlines make very little profit, if any, but nobody can convince me it would be a great expense for them to recycle. Especially considering the fact that nearly everything thrown away on an airplane can be recycled - cans (aluminum), cups (plastic), napkins (napkins), newspapers, which you mentioned. It's infuriating to work for companies that so blatantly don't care about the environment. On a positive notes, I have noticed a lot of airports adding recycling bins.
And hotels have way bigger issues than just the garbage. You're right on that front. I walk into hotel rooms often, which have at least 2 lights on (at least since they were last cleaned), and the television on. Coffee makers are plugged in and rarely used, as are hair dryers and all kinds of other rarely used appliances. Those are just a few of my beefs. Thanks for the great post. I'll have to follow as you add more!
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