Blog on the Corner

Over the reading break I was luckily enough to go on vacation to the Dominican Republic.  I flew with Air Transat, a canadian based airline.  Since taking this course, I have been noticing more and more green initiatives (maybe because I am looking or maybe because the trend is growing).  Whilst on the flight, my laptop battery died and I was without reading material.  Luckily in front of me was an Air Transat pamphlet which highlighted the companies commitment to sustainability and the environment.  At first I seemed doubtful, not wanting to be greenwashed by another big corporation that wants to be perceived as sustainable, however after a thorough read of the pamphlet I picked up a few pieces of info that I found interesting and relatable to our course.

First I discovered that the Air Transat head quarter in montreal is in fact LEED Certified plantinum, which was the first building in Canada to receive the award (2004).  Moreover, they were ranked first amongst long haul airlines by the atmosfair airlines index, which is a NGO that aims to provide info for travelers who are looking to reduce their environmental impact on their travels.  Finally, Air Transat was named the first certified green airline by the World Green Aviation Council.  Truthfully the only reason I flew with Air Transat was because they had the best price for my destination, however after being provided with more information, it made me extremely happy to know that my flight was also a sustainable choice.  The next step I think that Air Transat needs to take is to communicate their dedication and excellence towards sustainability to the market.  The pamphlets were a nice touch, however tv ads would reach a larger market and perhaps increase their market size.  Finally because the flight was inexpensive, I am assuming that this shows that airlines can be green while also reducing costs, which is truly the triple threat of sustainability.

I’ll be honest, up until a few weeks ago I had never heard of the term “green washing”.  However, since then I have realized how often greenwashing occurs and how I have been completely and utterly manipulated by it.  I used to buy products because they said they were eco-friendly/green/sustainable without so much as a thought that they weren’t what they said they were.  Well because of Comm 486F I now know not to blindly trust all products and services that claim to be green.  Just last Sunday I was out for Dine Out Vancouver at Suika, a japanese izakaya on broadway and granville.  After having a great dinner I got the bill and noticed that the back of my receipt said “Eco Paper BPA free”.  At the risk of sounding like a complete nerd, I knew right away that this was an opportunity for me to some research.  As soon as I got home I searched the internet for the benefits of having BPA free paper.  At first I found an article which referenced another article saying that BPA receipt paper contaminated recycling paper, however the referenced article seemed to have been removed, which maid me question the accuracy and credibility of the argument.  The more research I did the more I found that the BPA free receipt paper was more a health precaution as normal receipt paper has high amounts of BPA which can by congested into the body through contact.  BPA contains hormones which are not normal for the human body and have been proven to harm the male and female reproductive systems.  So in conclusion I found that although ECO paper is beneficial, it is not the as sustainable as the name would have it sound.