From choking marine life to leaching toxins into our bodies, we’re living through a full-on plastic crisis. And the airline industry is a huge source of plastic waste: generating over 5 million tons of cabin waste in 2017 alone. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way: in January, Portugeuse airline Hi Fly flew the world’s first plastic-free flight, swapping out wasteful plastic items for bamboo and compostable alternatives. 

So far, U.S. airlines have yet to follow suit. That’s why we’re coming together to call on Southwest, the nation’s largest airline, to pioneer plastic reduction and commit to flying the first plastic-free flight in the U.S. 

Single-use cutlery, cups, straws, and toothbrushes all end up in clogging landfills and waterways, where they can take some 500 years to decompose. That’s more than enough time to help reduce the planet to a giant plastic wasteland.  

Southwest’s lackluster efforts to reduce plastic waste just aren’t enough. In 2017, the airline only recycled or repurposed 35 percent of its waste. And even then, we know that even plastic recycling often ends up getting dumped in landfills or incinerated. 

We need bold, creative action to take on the plastic epidemic. And Southwest can do just that by committing to fly plastic-free flights using reusable and compostable alternatives. With competitors like Delta already getting rid of some single-use plastic items, Southwest needs to do more than just keep up with the competition: it can set a new plastic-free industry standard.