“At United, we’re committed to running a more sustainable airline,” says Aaron Stash, Manager of Environmental Strategy and Sustainability for United. “We’re working to minimize the environmental impacts associated with our operations, whether that’s in the air, on the ground, or at our facilities.”

One of these initiatives consists in the development of 750 one-of-a-kind travel accessories, including travel tags, sling bag backpacks, and saddle bags. Each of the accessories is created from upcycled advertising materials from United, like fabric banner advertisements and vinyl billboards that have been removed from Houston, Chicago, and Newark airports.

To create these accessories, United turned to Relan, a small, mother-daughter-run company based in Minnesota that focuses on producing sustainable items in an eco-friendly manner. The WBENC-certified business partners with larger companies like United for sustainability projects such as this one, helping these larger companies put their used materials to good use.

“Through this partnership, we tell a company’s sustainable story through unique, branded products created from their old marketing materials,” reads Relan’s mission statement. “These story-telling products divert existing marketing materials from the landfills and close the loop on an often overlooked waste stream.”

Originally founded to keep vinyl banners out of landfill, Relan has helped its partners keep more than 300,000 square feet of material out of landfill since its founding in 1995.

Relan’s upcycled products are all made by hand in cooperation with underprivileged communities; for this United project, Relan worked with local contract sewers from within the Hmong community, who hail from parts of Cambodia and Laos. These sewers are able to work from home to create the final products and support their families.

“Each item we make is unique and has its own story,” says Stash. This is true not only of the unique products, no two of which are exactly alike, but also of the people who create them.

These travel accessories are available on United’s site and make a great gift for any eco-friendly travelers on your gift list this holiday season.

Related on EcoSalon
5 Sustainable Brands Dedicated to Upcycled Fashion: Friday Finds
Designers Turn to Food Waste to Make Upcycled Fashion
5 Easy Travel Tips for the Road Trip Planner

The post Upcycled Travel Accessories from a More Sustainable United Airlines appeared first on EcoSalon.

United Airlines invests big time to turn food waste into renewable jet fuel. 

United Airlines is about to be the first American-based airline to use renewable jet fuel made from food scraps. The company has enlisted Fulcrum BioEnergy to turn household waste like food scraps, farm waste, and animal fat into biofuel. Their $30 million investment is a double whammy when it comes to the environment: reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and food waste.

“This partnership underscores United’s efforts to be a leader in alternative fuels as well as our efforts to lead commercial aviation as an environmentally responsible company,” said United’s Managing Director for Environmental Affairs and Sustainability Angela Foster-Rice in a statement. “From our carbon offset program to our fuel saving winglet technology, this investment in Fulcrum represents yet another example of our Eco-Skies commitment to a more sustainable future.”

Fulcrum uses a thermochemical process to convert household waste into low cost, low carbon transportation fuels. The process uses heat and pressure to breakdown the biomass and use the component parts for fuel. The biofuel will reduce airline emissions by a reported 80 percent while at the same time, it helps to combat another major problem: food waste. Plus the biofuel is cheap, costing just $1 per gallon.

According to the Huffington Post:

The carbon footprint of flying is pretty serious: Airlines are responsible for around 3 percent of the country’s total CO2 emissions. When that’s broken down more, it means a round-trip flight from New York to San Francisco produces about 3 tons of CO2 per person. Americans also generate on average nearly double the amount of CO2 that Europeans do.

About 40 percent of food in the U.S. ends up in the nation’s already stressed landfills. That equals to about 20 pounds of food waste per person per month. In all, Americans throw away about $165 billion worth of food every year. This is another great way to put some of that food waste to work for us in the form of jet fuel.

“We know alternative fuels is an emerging industry that is vital to the future of aviation and this is just one of our initiatives to help make these fuels saleable and scalable,” said United’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel Brett Hart. “Investing in alternative fuels is not only good for the environment, it’s a smart move for our company as biofuels have the potential to hedge against future oil price volatility and carbon regulations.”

While this initial investment is just the beginning, it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Especially considering that currently airlines are responsible for 3 percent of total U.S. emissions. United Airlines began investing in alternative fuels back in 2009 when the airline performed its first test flight using a plane powered by algae.

Related on EcoSalon

Cleaning Up the Chesapeake Bay by Turning Chicken Poop Into Biofuel

A Global Analysis: Is Biotechnology Really the Only Way to Solve Hunger?

Is Synthetic Biology Genetic Engineering? Either Way, it’s In Your ‘Green’ Cleaning Products

Image: Lars Steffen

The post United Airlines To Use Food Scraps For Renewable Jet Fuel appeared first on EcoSalon.