Alaska Airlines is making a move to greener skies through new cabin-wide service with Boxed Water™. After an initial trial of Boxed Water in first class in early 2021, the airline is taking their pledge to NetZero further. Alaska Airlines will be removing plastic water bottles and cups from flights and stocking hundreds of Boxed Water containers instead. Changes also include rolling out paper cups.
Starting November 4, 2021, Alaska Airlines inflight service is getting a plant friendly upgrade. Plastic water bottles and cups will be removed from airlines and replaced with Boxed Water Is Better®. Boxed Water cartons are 92% plant based. In First Class, guests are drinking from induvial cartons, cups are no longer necessary. For the rest of the plane, where larger cartons will be utilized, guest will drink Boxed Water from recyclable paper cups. Per Alaska Airlines estimate, this change saves an estimated 1.8 million pounds of single-use plastics. Over the next year, this reduction in waste is equivalent to the weight of 18 Boeing 737s!
Alaska Airlines has several other green initiates happening. First, Alaska Airlines asked customers to bring their own water bottle through the FillBeforeYouFLy campaign. Next, Alaska has eliminated hundreds of single-use waste items. This includes simple changes such as removing plastic stir sticks and replacing them with sustainable bamboo sticks. Alaska Airlines has also moved to fresh food for pre-order to ensure that guests can get exactly what they want. Offering fresh food for purchase via pre-order has dramatically decreased the food waste that was experienced pre-COVID. Other changes we’ve seen include the replacement of lime and lemons with True Lime packs. Further reducing waste.
Bottom Line
Alaska has strategy to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. If the airline can do it is questionable. After all, for over a year now, Alaska Airlines has only utilized single use plastic cups for all classes of service. As the pandemic surged on, this became typical for most airlines. Only a few premium airlines kept reusable and sustainable glassware in premium cabins. However, I bring this up as a reminder that Alaska has a long ways to go to NetZero. Yet, through Alaska Airlines expanded partnership with Boxed Water, Alaska is removing more plastic waste from flights and slowly cleaning up landfills and the earth. Expect to see more sustainable options on your next Alaska Airlines flight.
