Save the less privileged whilst Flying
Aviation isn’t known as the most eco-friendly industry. Carbon emissions aside, running an airline produces an incredible amount of waste. Everything from uneaten food to outdated uniforms is potential landfill fodder.
Southwest Airlines, for one, has decided to do something about it. After a large-scale redesign of many of its 737 aircraft, the carrier found itself with an excess of 80,000 leather seat covers — enough to fill the Empire State Building.
“We had this idea of ‘could we do something with this leather beyond recycling it or shredding it? Could we repurpose it?'” says Marilee McInnis, the airline’s senior manager of culture and communications.
Southwest dubbed the initiative “Luv Seat: Repurpose with Purpose,” and reached out to potential partners to take the used leather, but found that there were few takers.
“It’s awesome to have a great idea, but you have to have support for those — quote-unquote — great ideas. I worked with our green team for nine months to find a use for the leather. It’s actually much harder than you think it would be,” says McInnis.
Following the advice of Bill Tiffany, a Southwest VP who grew up in Kenya, the airline started looking towards Africa for recipients of the used leather. Rather than just donating the goods and leaving it there, the airline decided to take a more holistic approach, giving the materials to NGOs that will use them to provide job training and health education.
The main partner is SOS Children’s Villages Kenya, which is providing paid apprenticeships and training to orphaned youth, who in turn make shoes and soccer balls from the leather. The shoes are given to Maasai Treads, who distributes them as part of a campaign to fight debilitating foot parasites. The soccer balls are donated to Alive & Kicking, a charity that uses sport to educate young people on HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention. CNN
