The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

October 2, 2013

Virgin America — a Step on the Plastic Reducing Path

Back in January, I wrote an open letter to Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, and to David Cush, the CEO of the Virgin America airline, asking them to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated by their planes.

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A few days later, Richard Branson wrote back!

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Now, after working together with Virgin America and the Plastic Pollution Coalition for the past few months, I can report that the airline has taken its first steps in helping to reduce plastic waste in the air.

Virgin America asked the Plastic Pollution Coalition to create an educational video for its passengers with helpful tips for reducing their plastic footprint while flying.  PPC co-founder Dianna Cohen worked her butt off getting this video made in the short amount of time we had.  And I think it’s great.  Virgin America will not only be posting the video on their blog but will also upload it to Red, the entertainment system on all of their aircraft.  (I’ll let you know when that happens.)

While I think these steps are important–it’s very important to let passengers know what steps they can take to reduce plastic–I also want Virgin America to be a leader and continue to find ways to reduce the amount of disposable plastic that the airline offers passengers in the first place.  Doing an audit of Virgin’s plastic footprint would be a great place to begin.   Finding alternatives to plastic water bottles, food wrap, and foodware would be awesome.  Because let’s face it: every passenger is not going to want to bring their own bottle or food container or utensils or straw.  But the airline could offer alternatives that are easier on the environment.

Please join me in thanking Virgin America for the steps they are taking and asking them to go even further.   Please leave a comment here.  You can also:

1) Send a message on Virgin America’s contact page.

2) Tweet a message to @VirginAmerica.

3) Leave a message on Virgin America’s Facebook page.

Your voices matter.  They really do.

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7 Responses to “Virgin America — a Step on the Plastic Reducing Path”

  1. Hi,
    Yesterday as I was flying with Jet Blue I discovered that they are asking the customers to recycle their plastic and cans. As I was really happy to see this step, my husband, on the hand, was being told that his coffee couldn’t be poured directly in his reusable travel mug and ended up getting it in a disposable one in order to put it then to his mug. When we asked why the stewardess said it was legal policy.

    I am writing to jet blue today to see if something can be done, and was wondering if anyone had the same experience.

  2. Virgin America has always been very innovative. That would be great if this gives some ideas to other airlines…

  3. On the rare occasions (these days) hen I fly, I usually refuse the drinks and snacks on offer because of all the plastic waste, and just bring my own. I just posted on Virgin’s blog telling them how pleased I was they were taking steps to reduce their plastic waste, and urged them to keep up and extend their efforts. I’ve always thought of Virgin as the ‘fun’ airline to fly, and now I like them even more. Beth, thanks so much for working with them!

  4. Beth this is amazing – way to go! We’ve tweeted and fb’d it. So inspiring the power of one (YOU!) when teamed up with a visionary entrepeneur willing to break new ground for positive change.

  5. You are living proof that one person really can make a difference…and that many people coming together for a common cause can make a much bigger difference! Thank you so much for what you’ve been doing and for sharing this with us! :)

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