Featured image for Industrial Design Studio PriestmanGoode Wants You To Have A Plastic-Free Flight

Industrial Design Studio PriestmanGoode Wants You To Have A Plastic-Free Flight

by Rudy Sanchez on 10/16/2019 | 2 Minute Read

PriestmanGoode, a design firm specializing in large-scale projects whose clientele includes companies in the aviation, hospitality, infrastructure, and transportation, explores how we can reduce the environmental impact of travel through design and the use of sustainable materials in their latest project. Airline Industry group International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that a typical passenger generates about 1.43kg of cabin waste every flight

And a lot of that waste is single-use, single-serve plastic.

Currently on display at the Design Museum in London is “Get Onboard: Reduce. Reuse. Rethink,” an exhibit developed by PriestmanGoode featuring reimagined in-cabin amenities such as meals, utensils, and water bottles that challenges travelers and airlines to rethink the travel staples we use.

Editorial photograph

The in-flight meal tray concept, for example, includes compartments and lids made out of organic materials such as algae and banana leaf, while the tray is reusable and made up of coffee grounds. The spork (aka, the greatest invention of all time), neatly tucked into the lid, is also reusable and comes from coconut wood.

The design firm also created a new water bottle that not only fits in the back of a passenger's seat but is also biodegradable and commercially compostable as well as being reusable.

Editorial photograph

The exhibition comes as airlines around the world are making changes. Last year, Hi Fly became the first airline to fly plastic-free, and RyanAir has pledged to do the same by 2023. Alaska Airlines’ ongoing efforts to reduce in-cabin plastic includes removing plastic straws and stirrers and encouraging passengers to refill their reusable water bottles before boarding, which they say if only 10% of their passengers do, it could save 700,000 plastic bottles.

Get Onboard is on display at the Design Museum until February 9th, 2020.