So I’ve traveled this past weekend from the Midwest to California for a week.
One of my plane rides was 4 hours long. So they give you cans of soda on the plane. The also give you a plastic cup full of ice to drink it with.
When the flight attendant got to me I asked for my beverage in a can, without a cup. He looked at me confused. Then opened a can, poured a portion into a cup with ice and handed me the cup.
“I asked for the can, without the cup”
Him: “It doesn’t matter, we recycle the cups anyway.”
Look… people… the phrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” also goes in order of importance. It is better to NOT USE something first. Then if you can’t, reuse an object you have used. And if you can’t do the previous two, then recycle it. I really am starting to hate this idea that because you can recycle something that gives you leave to use as much as you want. Recycling isn’t free. It costs energy and money. No using something is far better for the environment.
So, Delta, please, when I ask for no cup – I really don’t want a plastic cup.
Small Steps for Big Change 
That is pretty funny . . . a lot of people don’t get the fourth R which is “Rethink” . . . as in rethink your need to use/purchase that item in the first place! Maybe he’ll get it next time? LOL!
Probably Delta has rules that require him to give you a cup.
That seems ridiculous that Delta would require him to give me a cup, thereby causing them to spend more money.
Wow. I have been out of the loop for too long. LOVE the new look of the blog, which is probably not very new. But anyway… seriously. He just needed to listen. This is just another example of poor customer service, which seems to becoming the norm around most places. Listen to what the customer is saying. He made a lot more work for himself, too. Granted, it isnt that much effort to pour the pop into the cup, but if EVERYONE on the plane said no cup, he could have probably saved 15 minutes during beverage service.
Yeah. I think of things like that.
wow….that is too funny! some people just don’t get the concept
I have a very distinct memory of Ronald McDonald coming to my grade school and rapping “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – yo!” Every time i see/hear that phrase, creepy RMD pops into my head.
But that doesn’t make it any less true — he just screwed up and then tried to brush it off. You were right.
Lost Goat may have a point — I know at some sporting events/concerts, they’re required to pour your drink into a cup. The idea is that a full can or plastic bottle or can be thrown as a weapon, but the liquid in a cup would spill out quickly if thrown. But I still hate the waste that results from it.
I remember learning the three Rs as reduce, reuse, recycle. Then when I got higher up in school, somehow that order changed in how it was taught to recycle, reduce, reuse. That seems to be how a lot of individuals operate. No, no, no.
Pause, you said NO cup and he still gave you a cup? I…can’t…even…fathom. I mean, you said NO CUP! How could you be required to give me a cup? Like, how is that a liability to DELTA if they do not give me a cup? Totally confused. I guess next time you can just save the cup and use it somewhere else…lol.
Hehehehe Indeed.
The entire situation isn’t life threatening nor that dramatic.
But just served as “inspiration” to remind people what the “order” is all about. It just bothers me to see people who think “Well, if I recycle that is good enough” – no that isn’t true. =)
It’s likely that they require it, but still stupid. Wasn’t there an airline that save $40,000 by eliminating one olive from first-class salads? Imagine if they could stop using half the cups on every flight!
Crazy how such a simple concept can totally escape some people…i’ve gotten to be obsessive in recycling and have found myself doing this: (in addition to all my home recycling)..I am a manufacturers rep who spends eight hours behind the wheel – I collect every single cup and lid from the drinks I purchase during the day, and have begun to keep all the paper sacks that the food comes in at the end of the day they go into my recycling bin – the paper sacks i use for when i clean out my kitty’s litter box..no more buying paper lunch bags for that dirty deed!
Those of you who “recycle” cans and bottles bringing them in for cash are HEARTLESS, GREEDY, UNTHINKING, PUKES. I care more about my fellow man, those who are homeless and destitute. I never recycle…….I choose to toss my cans and bottles out with the trash for those to come by and pick through so they can scrape together enough for a burger and a beer.
shame on you who take the food from the mouths of the needy.