Cleaner Greener China: Clean Technology, Green Products, New Ideas, Clean China

Rarely is there a day where I have the joy of pointing out a case of clear cut greenwashing, but today is different.

As reported in the China CSR article Korean Air Issues Environmentally-friendly Bags In Beijing:

Korean Air recently launched an environmental campaign at Beijing’s Oriental Plaza where it handed out 5,000 environmentally-friendly bags to advocate a green lifestyle and environmental protection.

Korean Air also invited people joining the campaign to answer a questionnaire, express their support for the environmental protection, and take steps to protect the environment.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am happy to see that 18 months after the plastic bag “ban”, that Korean Airlines is doing their part to support “green” living, but given the fact that this is nothing more than a marketing campaign to show how much “they care”, I thought it was worth the post.

Never one to just libel and run, what I would be doing (were I an airline executive looking to “green” my image airline), I would take the following steps:

Reduce the amount of operational waste my airline created through upgrading the fleet.  New airplanes are one step (a step their website says they are taking), but going beyond that… ground equipment.  all those buses, luggage carriers, and food trucks, that are just begging to be converted from low end diesel fuels to high grade electronic or biodiesels.  Perhaps even speaking with the folks from Cummins about developing new products just for their market

or..

Reduce in-flight waste.  Food & Beverage waste is a huge area to be worked on (see my previous post here for a list of examples), but also all those slippers that are used once by the people up front and then tossed, or the fact that blankets are wrapped in plastic after washing,etc.

These would be two of the ways they could get started,and more importantly make real environmental impacts that are core to their business model that could then be reported out and developed into an industry leader story.  Rather than what currently is the environmental statement of Korean airlines now:

The year 2008 was a challenging year for all sectors of the business world. Oil prices skyrocketed to record highs before falling towards the end of the year, the effects of the financial crisis in the U.S. spilt over into the global economy, bringing about widespread economic recession, and foreign exchange rates were on a roller coaster throughout the year. Amid such adversity, Korean Air suffered an operating loss of KRW 99.3 billion due to surging fuel costs and increased expenses related to fluctuations in foreign currency rates, but despite such difficulties, we exerted every effort to create new demand and expand our sales base.

As a result, operating revenues surpassed KRW10 trillion for the first time in Korean Air’s 40-year history, and the realization of 16% growth year-on-year In the passenger transport sector, we offered new routes to Munich, Tashkent and Milan, completing a network that connects 18 cities in 15 European countries. We also returned to the South American market with the resumption of service to Sao Paolo, Brazil. In the cargo transport sector, we added a route to Navoy, Uzbekistan and are currently an active participant in the Uzbekistani government’s ambitious plans to make the Navoy Airport a hub for Central Asia. Our flights to this airport are an important step in the realization of this goal for Uzbekistan.

… that is it. their first two paragraphs on their environmental record… which, leads me back to my original point. That through this activity, what Korean airlines engaged in was nothing more than a public campaign to show how green they were. It had little to do with how they as a company were acting to “green” themselves, but the appearance of how Korean Airlines shared the concerns of 5,000 people in Beijing.