Good post man! I sometimes feel like people think I'm weird when I tell the F/A's and Captain that I recycle so save all the paper, news papers, magazines etc.. Then when I get off the airplane with a bag full of paper I get an even more weird stare from the incoming crews. I tell them I'm doing it for their kids (I have none and probably never will). Rather than thinking "well he is a pretty clean guy, he got this far so he has to be somewhat smart, he is probably just recycling the paper" their first thought is I must have a trash fetish. I mean c'mon you don't have to be a forensic scientist to figure it out.

Just about every airport has paper recycling centers in the terminal so it's easy to just drop off on the way out. ATL has big ones right at the top of all the escalators which most people probably have never even noticed. I would say that 90% of the stuff we could throw away on our flights can be recycled. And most of it is paper. I'm just trying to do the right thing so that someone down the line doesn't have to suffer from our carelessness.

Now that's hilarious... your presentation I mean, not the fact that it's all true

Slightly off topic, but here is a good read on how the world is just nibbling around the edges of the whole environmental movement. It's a noble effort to be sure, but as a planet we're a long way from the tipping point.

Amazon.com: Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution: Auden Schendler: Books

Here's another one that shed's some light on the whole SUV thing

Amazon.com: High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the SUV: Keith Bradsher: Books

Both books can be had used for less than a buck at Amazon

Boomer, you kill me! And for Pontius...we live in a Starbucks world! Now if you charge the people like Airways did...well :)

Cans are metal, and thus are worth a certain amount of money. When they are essentially "sold" to the recycling companies, those companies are getting a good deal so they can re-sell that metal. Nothing wrong with making money in this world for doing something good.

Landfill capacity is a non-issue . . there's plenty of space. Any serious look at this issue (there's been plenty) will tell you this.

Efficient use of finite resources is a more serious proposition. Markets are sorting this out to some extent. Many things are just cheaper and less energy intensive to throw away and build anew. Other things (like copper, for example), make sense to recycle.

Environmentalism is the newest crazy religion. If you really subscribe to it, and you probably do, then you need to stop flying immediately. Anthropogenic climate change believers who finger "carbon emissions" have no business burning HUGE quantities of fuel and dumping massive amounts of carbon into the air. If this is your belief, then your job is directly contributing to the eventual death and displacement of tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people.

How can you sleep at night?

What a joke. You're saying people are not good members of society unless they recycle? Let me guess, you've bought into "global warming"?

Personally, I toss everything in the garbage, it is just much easier that way. To recycle means I have to do two things: first, sort it out and second, take it to a recycling center. Not going to happen.

Now, if you want to recycle and "save the planet" then go right ahead. But don't try to shove your environmentalism down my throat.

They won't because environmentalists are also hypocrites.

ive only put 250 tons into the air this year on the ERJ, a large widebody could do that in a flight

I'm not shoving anything down anyones throat, just asking a simple question about other airlines policies. I'm sorry that having an extra can and seperating your waste seems like a frivilous exercise to you. I'm not mad at you, I just think you are uninformed. I think you are mad at me, or maybe just a little guilty for your laziness. I used to not care about any of this kind of stuff either, until some of my reading educated me about the current state and rate of decline of our environment.

And you are right, flying airplanes leaves a huge carbon footprint that isn't likely to go away anytime soon. But high fuel prices are forcing more full planes and less flights a day as well as more fuel efficient aircraft. I think, since we put so many carbons in the air we should try a little harder than most to at least control where our waste goes, as well as our carbon footprint outside of work.