Are you doing your ecological best when flying in China?
 

On my flight this morning I was amused by the following message in Nihao, China Southern Airline’s inflight magazine. Are you doing your part?

“Recently an environmental protection activity named TT was formally launched . . .
TT, being the abbreviation for “Toilet before Flight, and Tell others” is to encourage passengers to go to the toilet before boarding their flight. If 150 people on the same flight can empty their bladders beforehand, the aircraft could be 63 KG lighter. Relative statistics suggest that one more litre of petrol consumed by traffic can cause 4800 g or carbon emission.”

This public service announcement is being posted from the Guangzhou airport. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some important business to take care of before boarding my flight.

lol. Make sure not to tip the attendant.

If they really cared they'd tell you to take the train.... or lose weight, lol.

If my metric to U.S. measurement conversion serves me correctly, that's almost a pound of pee per person! Really?? I don't know what y'all are drinking there before your flights, but that's some mighty large discharge!

A pint of urine weighs somewhere about a pound. The average daily production is around 3-4 pints. So it's a generous estimate of savings.

Fascinating how you can help save the planet isn't it!

To the statisticians, maybe if you factor in saving toilet paper too that would account for some of the mass. Now called TTTP (TT and save Toilet Paper).

Any calculations about taking a dump beforehand?

Kinda ironic to see the Chinese worried about ecology.

"Kinda ironic to see the Chinese worried about ecology."

I hate to turn a light subject into a controversial one -- but I'm frankly amazed how much we (the US) could learn from the Chinese about a lot of issues dealing with ecology. Among the things I'm surprised at are that nearly everywhere I look, trash cans have two sides -- for recycles and non-recycles. And somewhere someone is always wandering around picking up plastic bottles -- I'd be surprised if any of them are left lying around. I'm stunned with the number of trees they are planting everywhere -- along new highways and roads and just on the hillsides. And new planned communities have tons of green space fully landscaped. Most taxis and buses run on propane or other "non-fossil" fuels -- why cant' that happen in the US more? And reminders about turning off lights (heck, you have to turn them off when you leave your hotel room in most cases to take your key out) and reusing towels and sheets are posted everywhere.

My wife was not fond of the squat toilets in China so she just didn't go to the toilet. She will have a sh>t when she hears about the environmental damage she was causing.

Do they not have recycling in Florida? I know Seattle is on the far end of the continuum, but it's rare to see a place that doesn't have recycling (usually two kinds) and garbage.

It's the factories in China that have to be reigned in. The pollution is so blatant and toxic it is frightening.

We too have recycling in Honolulu. Three different colored bins, so correct.

Aloha!

NeoPatrick -

1. I seriously doubt those recycling bins work in China. In fact, if you look into them, you'll likely find plenty of trash.

2. People pick up plastic bottles because someone figure out they can make enough money to feed themselves doing that all day.

3. They're planting trees all over the mountains because they've cut their mountains bare during the first 4-5 decades of communist rule, and is suffering the consequences right now. Read about the recent landslide in Gansu.

4. When is propane a non-fossil fuel?

I do agree with you about turning off lights. Americans are horrible wasteful in that.

BTW, telling people to go pee first is NOT a Chinese idea. Japan's ANA came up with that a few months ago and made news all around the world. CZ simply <b>copied</b> that.

HT, you are so right abut the factories. We get acid rain in the Pacific Northwest from the coal-burning in China.

Forgive me. I didn't mean to imply that China is the model for ecological awareness! Or even that some of their small attempts are all success stories. Just a couple small observances. And yes, they have raped the hillsides, but isn't it MORE important that they are NOW trying to make up for it by planting literally millions and millions of trees everywhere? Let's at least give a little credit for attempts!

And even in New York, I've stayed in a huge apartment building and asked what to do with the recycles and was told to "throw them down the trash chute with everything else". Maybe they are sorted somewhere by someone -- but I was shocked at the system! And no, in Florida the on street trash cans are NOT divided into recycles and trash (even if it doesn't always work in China). In fact, I'm trying to think of where in the US I HAVE seen that. But it's everywhere here in China.

At least 10 years ago we first were presented with the key that controls your lights (and AC) in your hotel room...in Sicily. We have often wondered why that isn't more prevalent in North America....even as hotels re-fitted to save energy - people won't do it?

yuck - bad language - we were first presented........

In 2007 China took over the top spot from the USA as the worlds biggest polluter. I doubt that the rest of the world has a lot to learn about ecological awareness from either country whether we pee before boarding or not.

Elizabeth, I think that key in the light control is one of those good ideas that really doesn't work. In one hotel, there was even a permanent card in the box saying "do not remove", and most of us have learned that if we want to return to our hotel on a 100 degree day to cool off in the afternoon, we'd better not remove our key from that box or we will return to a real sweatbox. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out a business card works just well in that device.

Newer controls require a card with a metal chip on the card you stick in the electricity control. But it still doesn't have to be your room key. If you don't mind leaving that card in your room, it will work just fine, keeping power on.

Better is that some hotels keep one or two plugs with power all the time. This way, the guest can continue to charge his/her phone/battery or whatever when out.