The crazy Kiwi’s are at it again, this time coming up with edible coffee cups. Local company Twiice has partnered with Air New Zealand to trial this new innovation on board.
The airline industry gets a bad rap when it comes to its environmental impact. Showing just how much progress has been made in the last 60 years of jet travel when it comes to reducing emissions, increasing fuel efficiency and reducing noise seems to be one for the too hard basket.
Edible Coffee Cups at Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand has already switched to plant-based coffee cups made of paper and corn instead of plastic. This makes them easier to break down in a composter. The next step is the edible cups by Twiice.
Essentially made up of vanilla flavoured biscotti, the new edible coffee cups are apparently leak proof. Now that’s something pretty important when serving a coffee!
Obviously something like this removes plastic from the environment, but also it would remove the need to wash and clean proper crockery mugs. Without knowing the manufacturing process, it all sounds quite good. At the moment this is only a trial, and if it’s successful, they will explore scaling it up and rolling it out.
Overall Thoughts
While you may not know it, the aviation industry is busy doing all they can to increase efficiency and their environmental impact. There is still quite some way to go, but if more airlines issue press releases like the Air New Zealand one, things will get better.
One thing people need to consider before lambasting the aviation industry is the many elements in the supply chain. “Use less plastic in meals” needs to be done, but that should originate in the catering supply companies who make the meals. They are responsible for food safety and will know what can and can’t be switched or what can and can’t be used instead. The airline is the visible end product, which is why it draws all the ire.
In reality, people should be looking a bit closer to home when it comes to the environment. Why don’t you fix that couch instead of replacing it? Do you really need new fashionable clothes each season when you have perfectly fine clothes in your wardrobe you don’t wear? Buy the amount of food you’re going to eat, rather than throwing away uneaten food at each meal. Do you need to have that takeaway meal with all the boxes and rubbish it creates? These things are more important than saying “flying is bad”.
What do you think of all of this? Are you environmentally conscious or is it someone else’s problem? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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All images via Air New Zealand.
