Are Airlines Greenwashing their branding?

Did you know that aviation (air travel) contributes to 4% of human-induced global warming? To put this into perspective, if the air travel industry was a country, it would rank 5th as the world’s most polluting country, and there are 195 countries in the world. 

With this in mind, many airlines have been under more pressure in recent years to become more socially/ environmentally responsible with their negative climate contribution. Many airlines all around the world have been implementing eco-friendly measures such as plant-based foods, recycling, reducing single-use plastics, and using biofuel to power the journey. 

Moreover, reading from the title, you may wonder what exactly do I mean when I say ‘greenwashing’? Greenwashing is a term used when “an organization spends more time and money on marketing itself as environmentally friendly than on actually minimizing its environmental impact.”

As an example, if you go on an airplane and you are given drinks in paper cups, you may get the impression that this is a sustainable airline. However, in reality, these are minor aspects of the airlines annual carbon footprint and they may not actually be tackling the real contributions such as jet fuel at all. 

On the whole, the best thing for the environment is not to fly, but it is a necessity for many. Therefore, in this blog post, I will be sharing the measures that some airlines are taking to reduce their carbon footprint to a certain extent. Note: these measures itself may not greatly impact carbon emissions but small steps hopefully add up :) 

Easyjet

Easyjet is a European based airline who is committed to hit net-zero carbon emission by 2050. 

In recent years, they have actively removed plastic spoons and plastic stirrers by replacing them with wooden utensils. By doing so, they have “eliminated  over 36 million individual items of plastic.” 

If you are a regular easyjet traveler, you may even know that they offer discounts on hot drinks for customers who bring their own reusable cup so make sure to use this offer on your next trip to Europe! 

Additionally, the company has recently introduced new crew uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles. They claim that this innovation has “the potential to prevent 2.7 million plastic bottles from ending up in landfill or in oceans over the next five years.”

Last but most importantly, over a 20-year period, the company has managed to cut down emissions by one third (per passenger/km). 

KLM

KLM is an airline based in the Netherlands and for the past 15 years, has been one of the top three of the airlines category of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. KLM is seen to be an airline who is actively trying hard to create a more environmentally friendly future. They have enforced “a set goal of reducing its total carbon footprint by 15% in 2030 compared to 2005 levels.” The airline company is also using organic waste, including used cooking oil, in a newly built sustainable aviation fuel plant in the Netherlands.

Moreover, KLM has claimed to use “responsibly produced coffee and tea, organic eggs from the Rondeel farm” and “bread from a Dutch bakery which uses solar energy for the production”. The airline also sources meats and fish that are certified MSC, ASC, or in the green section of the WWF Sustainable Seafood Guide. The company curates vegetarian means for all economy class and uses trays that are made from light material polypropylene, the production of polypropylene has been shown to be less harmful to the environment than per say plastic, which requires an estimation of approximately 450 years to decompose in a landfill. 

Another exciting and fun fact is that KLM is the only airline to discourage people from flying. The airline is focusing on educating its customers about some more planet-friendly alternatives to travel, such as trains, through launching a “Fly Responsibly” campaign.

Overall, with all the information I have read, it seems that unlike some other airlines that may be green washing their branding just to please customers, KLM is genuinely making an effort to reduce their environmental damage.

Well lovely readers, that concludes Part I of “Are Airlines Greenwashing their Branding?” series. There will most likely be two or three more parts to this blog post so make sure to stay tuned by following my instagram @sophiedeats. See you soon!