Will Empty Bladders Reduce An Airline’s Carbon Footprint? ANA Says “Yes”

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3/10/2009 – Will Empty Bladders Reduce An Airline’s Carbon Footprint? ANA Says “Yes”

Over the past few years’ airlines have been working to reduce their carbon footprints. KLM, with paint manufacturer Mankiewicz, created eco friendly aircraft paint; China Airlines partnered with MOS burger to develop eco-friendly meals; Air France has instituted ramp equipment that does not depend on fossil fuels; Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines have been experimenting with bio-fuels…

…and now Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) is asking its passengers to fly with their bladders empty.

ANA’s carbon reduction initiative is quite simple, they are asking passenger to relieve themselves and empty their bladders before they board their flights. The airline states that empty bladder mean lighter passengers and reduced lavatory waste, which in turns translates into a lighter aircraft and reduced fuel consumption.

To achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions by as much as 5-tons per month ANA will position staff members in the boarding area to ask passengers to relieve themselves prior to boarding in the gate areas of 42-flights throughout the month of October.

Presently the carbon footprint of an economy class passenger flying round-trip between New York’s JFK International Airport (JFK) and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT) is 2,576lbs of CO2, more than one-third of the annual yearly CO2 emissions of the average person worldwide.

If ANA’s experiment of asking passengers to use the lavatory throughout the month of October is successful they plan to expand this initiative throughout their route system.

So folks if you’re planning on flying ANA you might want to skip the 64oz Big Gulp from 7-Eleven before boarding your next flight!

Happy Flying!