On the third of November, Alaska Airlines announced that they will replace the single-use plastic bottles and cups they use to serve their passengers' water. Instead, they will use plant-based cartons from Boxed Water together with paper cups. The airline follows in the footsteps of for example British Airways and Portugal’s Hi Fly, who stopped using single-use plastic onboard in 2020.
The airline estimates that the change will save 1.8 billion pounds of single-use plastic waste a year. Boxed Water’s cartons are made of 92 percent plant-based materials and they will replace the 22 million plastic cups and 32 million plastic bottles the airline used every year.
In 2018 Alaska Airlines stopped using plastic stirrers and straws. Removing plastic cups and bottles is yet another step towards a more sustainable future.
A positive trend in abandoning plastics contributes to a more optimistic outlook and a sustainable future coming sooner.
