Alaska Airlines: Now serving Boxed Water – in cardboard cups

Starting today (4 November 2021) in what may well be a little bit of greenwashing to coincide with the 2021 Glasgow climate meeting, Alaska Airlines announces one of those things that makes you say: ‘Why weren’t we doing this years ago?’

Instead of serving water from the classic clear plastic bottle, they have shifted to the old fashioned ‘milk’ carton, but filled with water. It’s buying the water in boxes from a company called Boxed Water™ – they let them trade mark that.

The packaging is 92% plant-based, fully recyclable, and is sealed with a plant-based cap. Alaska will also replace plastic cups with recyclable paper cups to put that drinking water in. If you think this is a little thing, then swallow this:

‘Inflight water service is the most significant contributor of onboard plastic waste. The switch to more sustainable solutions will effectively remove 22 million plastic cups and 32 million plastic bottles per year from Alaska flights.’

Alaska Airlines Newsroom

Of course, those 22 million cups will now be cardboard, as will the 32 million bottles, but hey, they’re fully recyclable.

However, Alaska is to be commended for its environmental policies which include a strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, with a target to be the most fuel-efficient U.S. airline by 2025. That will all help their commercial bottom line as well.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

I’m no expert on matters environmental, but there are plenty who are who can pull the release apart, but on the surface, this looks like a great environmentally friendly idea. That being the case, come on Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin, Rex and Alliance, and follow this trend.