ANA 747-400D(JA401A) which can hold up to 565 passengers

SAVE THE WHALES! It is easier than you might think. You don’t have to donate money, go out and protest, nor send a letter to your congressman. All you need to do, according to All Nippon Airways (ANA), is use the bathroom before you board your flight.

Confused? ANA is stating that if just half their passengers would use the facilities before taking flight, it would save 4.2 tons of carbon dioxide per month.

All joking aside, they might have something here. The more weight on an aircraft, the more fuel it will burn and the more carbon dioxide will be put into the atmosphere. One of their Boeing 747-400D (high density seating) can hold over 560 people. Take 560 x  (bathroom times) = a lot of weight.

Now, this is not all that ANA is doing to help out. They have also started using recycled paper cups, plastic bottles, and eliminating glass. They are also showing an eFlight (the “e” standing for “environment” not “electronic”) film to all passengers that states, “This flight is a so-called ‘eFlight.’ The idea behind the operation is to think about the Earth in the sky above. Fuel reduction by lightening the weight of the aircraft will lead to restrain the carbon dioxide emission, which is one of the causes of global warming. Thank you for your understanding.”

Either way, if this saves ANA a few bucks in gas and maybe a whale or two, it works for me. Besides, it is best to go before flight anyhow, so you can avoid using an airplane’s tiny bathroom.