Flush Before Flying

In an innovative approach to conservation, Japanese carrier All Nippon Airlines is suggesting that its passengers make a pit stop before boarding their planes in order to reduce fuel consumption. The AFP reports:

ANA estimates that if half its passengers went to the bathroom before boarding, it could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 4.2 tons a month, said company spokeswoman Megumi Tezuka.

Apparently, the pre-flight flush is just part of their new environmentally friendly efforts. The airline also plans to recycle paper cups and plastic bottles, use napkins created from the byproducts of green tea production, and offer chopsticks produced from wood from forest thinning projects. These new tactics will be tested on 38 domestic flights-including the six-and-a-half-hour route from Tokyo to Singapore, all this month.

Though we realize the airline isn’t suggesting you avoid the loo altogether, we wondered what crossing your legs for an extended flight would be worth in the way of CO2 reduction. Thankfully, The Toronto Star actually went so far as to calculate the overall conservation in passenger “weight” saved by a trip to the bathroom before you board:

The average human bladder holds up to a litre of fluid, which weighs roughly one kilogram. All Nippon’s most popular aircraft, a Boeing 777, holds 247 people. So, in theory, if 247 passengers all go to the washroom before boarding, they could lighten the plane by up to 247 kilograms–the weight of three average men.

What’s your take? Is going before you go the new eco-savvy way to travel?

[All Nippon Airlines E-Flights Campaign]

Photo: Grist.org