Conclusion: BUSTED.
Truth: You can take your water bottle onto the plane, and you should. Just make sure it’s empty when you pass through security. You can re-fill it on the other side, and carry it onto the plane with you. We all know about the TSA’s 3oz of liquid rule, but there’s no rule against empty water bottles.
Why should you do it? Well, imagine for a moment how many of those little plastic cups you typically use in one flight. (The answer? A lot). Now multiply that by the number of people on your flight, then by the number of flights each day, and you've got a heck of a lot of plastic cups being thrown away each year. In fact, as part of his “Running the Numbers” series of photographs, Chris Jordan—an artist most famous for his photographs critiquing American consumerism—depicts an image of 1 million plastic cups: the number of cups used by airlines every six hours.
And it doesn’t stop at plastic cups. According an NRDC study on airline waste, the U.S. Airline industry annually throws away enough aluminum cans to build 58 Boeing 747 jets and enough newspapers and magazines to fill a football field to a depth of over 238 feet. In 2004—the year the study was published—airlines disposed of 9,000 tons of plastic.
So bring your reusable water bottle—filled after you pass security, but before you board the plane—reusable utensils, and whatever else you can to help reduce the impact of airlines' trash landing.
If you forget to bring your reusable water bottle, then at least reuse the first cup you receive on your flight.
Have a friend who swears turning off the light when you leave a room actually wastes energy? Does your uncle tell you Hummers are more eco-friendly than hybrids? Whatever the eco myth, we'll help you get to the bottom of it. Submit your myth to SustainLane Greenbusters.
Megan L. says:
Thank you for this. I am a frequent flyer and consider myself to be a conscious consumer, and every time I am on a plane I am frustrated by the enormous amount I waste and the fact that there is not much I can do about it. Just a quick note: in my experience, not all airlines will allow you to reuse your plastic cups.
Nancy S. says:
I work for a major airline and have expressed my concern to management about the lack of recycling on airplanes especially considering that "trash" on airplanes is some of the most recyclable material around -- aluminum, plastic, glass and newspapers. Nothing yet, but I will keep working on them.
One issue: trash on in-bound international flights has to be burned.
Laelle M. says:
I used to always bring a 1.5 liter bottle of water with me on every plane flight...before they changed the law about bringing liquids through security. Now I bring my disposable stainless steel bottle instead. Make sure to take it out of your bag and put it in the plastic tray so they can see what it is! Makes the whole process easier; they typically just ask "is the water bottle empty?"
It's a great idea, but definitely still has some downsides. I've filled up my bottle from the drinking fountains at many different airports, and have been able to actually drink it from about half of them. Some places the water is so chlorinated and chemical tasting, that I just can't do it, and end up buying a few disposables from one of the expensive shops at the airport. Also, depending on your flight time, one 24 or 32 oz bottle just might not be enough! I've been lucky enough to have a few flight attendants who were sympathetic to my not wanting to use plastic - one actually poured water straight from his 1.5 liter bottle of spring water right into my stainless steel (from a safe distance so he didn't touch the bottle to mine of course). Another followed the rules more closely I think, and poured the water into one of the plastic cups, then into my stainless steel - repeating this 4-5 times until she thought I had enough water that I probably wouldn't harass her about it again for awhile :-) .
So...although it sounds like a great idea to bring along your own empty water bottle, there can definitely be some potential complications. I still think it's worth it to bring your own bottle and give it a try, but know that if you're at all picky about the quality of the water you drink, you might end up disappointed.
Nancy S. says:
If you do have a plastic bottle with you, airports like LAX and ORD have recycling bins in the airport where you can put the bottles after you deplane.
Please! Frequent Flyers pressure your carrier to start recycling. You are the only ones the airlines listen to.