Emirates' paperless plane - what next in the 'green' PR jungle

In the Sunday Times (20.07.2008) there is an article with the incredulous title of 'Emirates Flies the Paperless Plane'. Here is a mega tonne plane (the new Airbus A380 superjumbo) with its enormous cargo of people (500), baggage and payload and they choose to send out a message that the '2 kg per seat saving' by stopping the use of 'in-flight magazines, entertainment guides and shopping catalogues ('paperless plane') will help to save 'fuel and the environment'.

Help me, help me, help me ............

This is a mega tonne plane of which the paper load is miniscule! How about a few other suggestions:

1. Reduce the number of flights
2. Reduce the number of passengers! One passenger would save more than a magazine?
3. Require that all passengers are below a certain weight! No, that would be discriminatory.
4. Ask the flight attendants to wear just one pair of shoes and carry less luggage?
5. Ask all passengers to reduce the weight of luggage they bring with them?
6. Hey, why not take all the duty-free goods off the plane!
7. Reduce the number of crew and flight attendants?
   
8. Ask all the passengers not to eat or drink before flying ......... similar saving to 2 kg per person?
9. Only fly these big things when they are full - now there is a thought.
10. 2 kg of paper per person suggests that there is some room for looking at alternative papers and reducing the waffle that there is in typical in-flight magazines etc
    

This is the media for you. A quick story ......... jumping on whatever is trendy ............ overemphasising the single issues rather than considering the bigger picture.

Yes, get rid of paper and packaging and satisfy someone (a few) but please, please, please, think of the whole picture. A quick PR gain will not bring value to your company in the end. Are the Emirates as a company and a nation so squeaky clean that they can make a big issue of saving 2 kg per person? I think not.

One does not have to be a genius to understand that:

• 500 X 2 kg = 1,000 kg (one tonne)
  
• The maximum take off weight (MTOW) of a superjumbo (yes, this is the figure, Sunday Times and Emirates seemed to forget to mention) is over 650 tonnes! A hefty cocktail of composites, metals, glass etc
  
• Do the maths! 1/650 is what the paper will contribute

How about banning alcohol on all Emirates flights?