As part of a recent business trip, I flew Delta Airlines. Flying is rife with environmental concerns, but it’s not going away. Here’s what Delta has done to green their practices:
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In-flight recycling: To date, Delta has recycled more than 7 million pounds of aluminum, plastic, and paper products onboard that would have otherwise been taken to a landfill. (While collecting trash on my flight, the flight attendant kept the cups stacked in his hand, not it the trash bag).
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Since the 1970s, the industry has steadily improved by pursuing more fuel-efficient aircraft-most modern planes use approximately 40 percent less fuel than their earlier counterparts.
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Some notable achievements include a 1.7% average annual efficiency improvement from 2009 to 2012, exceeding the International Air Transportation Association’s fuel-efficiency goal of 1.5% annual improvement.
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In addition, Delta has reduced their annual aircraft greenhouse gas emissions by 8.4 million metric tons from 2005 to 2012, an 18.5% reduction – and the equivalent of removing 1.7 million cars from the road for a year. Delta also reduced aircraft emissions by 868,040 metric tons in the last year alone – equivalent to eliminating the annual emissions of five Boeing 747-400s, the biggest aircraft in our fleet.
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Between 2009 and 2012, Delta used 2.8% less fuel while carrying 2.5% more revenue tonne kilometers, which is basically the weight of passengers, cargo and mail multiplied by distance flown.
* All facts come from the April 2013 Sky Magazine