CrimsonHoo

I searched to see if anyone else had noted this yet in a thread, but couldn't find anything. I apologize if this is repetitive.

I was in an ATL CRC for the first today in a week or so, and noticed they were serving out of plastic cups. My first reaction was "Oh no"; just when we got rid of the plastic in FC, it comes back into the CRC. Then, I saw a sign noting that, because of the extreme drought conditions in ATL, the ATL CRC's had switched to plastic indefinitely, to conserve water.

I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has noticed this outside of ATL. Assuming it's confined to ATL, I think DL deserves kudos for doing its part with the extreme drought we're facing here.

Traveller

I hope it rains soon, I really do not like drinking coffee out of styrofoam... but I'm glad DL are conserving for this reason, so I'll give them a ^ .

southerndoc

Hopefully they are also recycling the plastic cups.

I know Delta is making strides in recycling aluminum cans from their flights. I highly commend this, and it's one of the reasons why I continue to prefer flying with Delta.

griffinj

Conserving water at the expense of filling a landfill with plastic and styrofoam cups. They may be saving water, but they're not doing anything to help their carbon footprint.

gt0138d

True. Under the circumstances, this is a better short term option short of saying "Bring your own glasses".

On the topic of conservation, I hope all airlines would go the southwest (and some international airlines route) and dispense the popular drinks from large packages. For example, the cola - so many people consume it and a 2L bottle will get used up in a flight. It is better than carrying so many cans - both environmentally and financially.

Pinch pennies smartly.

Akulashark

How many times can aluminum be recycled? How many times can plastic be recycled? I think aluminum maintains its original properties, and plastic doesn't. I would prefer a can of coke, if they recycle the can.

Plastic is horrible for the environment, takes tons of pollution to create and never goes away.

Efrem

Pardon my stupidity, but how does serving it in a plastic cup conserve water? Nothing in this thread so far suggests that the plastic cups hold any less water than glass, or for that matter metal or paper, cups would. Isn't it the size of the cup that matters, not its material?

gator21

It's called not having to run the dishwasher

MikeyZBT

Uh. Not having to clean them in a dishwasher?!

DMIrishFlyer

i don't have enough time to go into why this is an extremely uniformed statement - but it is, and nothing bugs me more than people making comments about something they obviously know nothing about other than what they have heard other uniformed people say or write.

KUDOS to DL for doing this.

thesaints

You mean "uniformed" as in military people, or as in "uninformed" ?

Anyway, aluminium and PTE are both recyclable. To recycle Al, you need to consume energy (for melting). To recycle PTE you can just burn it and use it to provide energy. Which one is better ?

DMIrishFlyer

thanks for the sp correction - i'm assuming you meant aluminum instead of aluminium besides the recycling factor, how about looking at the benefits of using plastic to begin with - how about being educated about a topic before making throwaway comments about it to begin with!!!! (not referring to you thesaints)

NOLAnwGOLD

For cans, you truly reuse the alumnium. You just melt it down and do what you want with it. It saves tons of energy (something like the equivelent of 2 cups of gasoline per can IIRC), tons of water in the mining process, obviously don't have to ruin more land to mining, etc.

Plastic rarely can be made into the same thing. Usually it has to be made into something of lesser quality and only a few times. Therefore your Coke can can become a can again. Your Coke bottle will never be a Coke bottle again....

FYI, I never take a cup on the plane, just the can. I'll take my newspaper and other products off the plane and recycle it at the airport. It's not hard to do.

Maybe Delta should use paper compostable cups instead of plastic.

griffinj

Yes. Delta's strategy is "penny wise, pound foolish". Sad.

Efrem

I doubt it takes more resources to clean a glass "glass" than to make a plastic (petroleum-based) one. This may be the right response to the specific situation of a temporary, localized drought, but if that's going to be the long-term picture, it's not a permanent solution. It optimizes part of the system at the expense of the big picture.