Mateusz Maszczynski has honed his skills as an international flight attendant...

Alaska Airlines hopes to reduce 1.8 million pounds of disposable plastic products from its flights next year by replacing plastic water bottles and disposable glasses with cardboard boxes of water and paper cups. Through this latest ecological plan, the amount of single-use plastic removed each year is equivalent to the weight of 18 Boeing 737 aircraft.

Airborne water will now be provided by Michigan-based "Boxed Water Is Better", which provides pure filtered water in cardboard boxes made of 92% recycled materials, including all-vegetable screw caps. All cartons are 100% recyclable, refillable and BPA-free.

Alaska first tried boxed water on flights operated by its subsidiary Horizon Airlines earlier this year. The mini cartons were also tested by first-class passengers, who preferred boxed water to old plastic water bottles at a ratio of two to one.

The Seattle-based airline will now launch boxed water and paper cups in its route network, hoping to reduce 32 million plastic bottles and 22 million plastic cups from its flights every year.

Diana Birkett Rakow, vice president of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airlines, described the cooperation with Boxed Water as the airline's "most influential plastic reduction program to date."

“As a West Coast-based airline, we fly to some of the most beautiful places on the planet. Protecting these habitats is vital to our common future, and reducing plastic waste is a critical step,” Laco continued.

Although Alaska Airlines did use recyclable plastic bottles, it suspended on-board recycling when the pandemic began. Even if on-board recycling restarts, disposable plastic cups cannot be recycled.

However, our goal is to no longer use plastics at all, because only a small part of it is recycled every year in the United States.

"Although we have an industry-leading recycling program, the reality is that we need to switch to renewable options," commented Todd Traynor-Corey, general manager of Alaska Guest Products.

"It's not easy to get to this point. We studied several options in the supply chain-this year we finally found a product that our customers like and a mission-oriented value that reflects our own partners."

In the past few years, Alaska has eliminated hundreds of single-use wastes and was one of the first airlines in the world to switch to bamboo beverage stirrers.

Earlier this year, the airline announced its intention to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, and it also has a five-year plan to significantly reduce waste and promote recycling. Last month, Alaska even established its own investment department to help fund and cultivate emerging technologies, which will help the airline achieve net zero revenue.

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Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most famous airline in the Middle East and has been flying for a famous European airline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centered stories. Matt's industry insight, analysis and news reports always pay close attention to the ground, and some prominent figures in the press often rely on him.

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This environmentally friendly boxed water has many loopholes. It is still a disposable container, and the cost of recycling is still high. It is easy to fall into the narrative of Green Awakening, but this is far from the truth. In other cases, 2/3 of people asked water hate it. Therefore, the company's statement that "people like it" is not entirely correct. Do your own research before being said this or that by the company and the media and how amazing they are. Most of them just want to look good, but still bad for the employees

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