An Easy and Free Trick to Reduce Your Flying Footprint

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When it comes to the negative impact flying has on the environment, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is the most obvious target. And it issignificant — TPG's Katie Genter flew 179,063 miles in 2017, leaving behind a 21.488-ton carbon footprint.

Some airlines make it easy to compensate for that impact with a carbon offset program at reasonable rates — a round-trip transcon shouldn't run you more than 10 bucks — but there are other things you can do to help the environment, too.

Jason DiVenere, United Global Services member and friend of the world's most frequent flyer, Tom Stuker, shared his own strategy for helping minimize waste. As he explains above, Jason collects all of the plastic consumed during his flight — amenity kit and blanket wrappers, the headphone bag, etc. — and brings it all to his dry cleaner back home, where there's a bin for recycling this type of plastic.

Some airlines make an extra effort to recycle as well, but there's no guarantee all of that waste won't end up in a landfill, especially when flights land at an airport outside of the United States, where local laws may require that all materials be thrown away. With Jason's advice, though, you can take the process of recycling plastic bags and wrappers into your own hands.