Treehugger, 5 December 2006

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/go_before_you_g_1.php

We know that flying is quite a dirty business, but what about doing your own
business at 30,000 feet? China Southern airline recently raised the question
when it gently requested that passengers use the restroom prior to boarding, as
Xinhua news agency reported last week.

Before some of you get your panties all in a twist over the thought of avoiding
the airplane lavatory, listen to Captain Liu Zhiyuan: "The energy used in one
flush is enough for an economical car to run at least 10 kilometers." The
motivation behind the airline's restroom request is economic--not unlike the
airline industry everywhere else, China's airlines flushed 3 billion yuan away
in the first half of the year due to rising fuel costs. But the environmental
cost of mile-high poop is also more than just a drop in the toilet.

Consider that a transatlantic flight for a family of four already creates more CO2
than that family would generate at home in an entire year, and that burning airplane
fuel has a global warming effect 2.7 times your typical ground-based release of
CO2. While the vacuum toilets used on airplanes are already pretty
water-efficient, based on China Southern's figures (1 liter of fuel/flush) and
the altitude effect, the CO2 released by these toilets per flush is about 14.27
pounds. We knew in-flight bathrooms were kinda dirty, but not this dirty.