I was reading in the Parade Magazine insert to the newspaper about "Plane Junk." It was very disturbing. The article noted that airlines throw away enough aluminum cans annually "to build 58 brand-new 747s." In addition, airlines throw away 9,000 tons of plastic per year, plus enough paper to build a 230 foot building. Airlines and airports only recycle about 20% of their waste. If the airline industry did the same amount of recycling as most of the U.S. (which in the grand scheme of things could be much improved), it would still be enough to save the amount of emissions equal to 80,000 cars. Why is the waste of energy and resources allowed to continue? If it's too challenging for airports and airlines to recycle, then they need to re-think their use of so many cans, plastic cups, etc. Perhaps they could have filtered water--e.g. Culligan dispensers--on flight to negate the need for so many plastic bottles. At the very least, airports should have recycling bins for paper, glass and plastic accessible for passengers who might recycle if given the opportunity. In addition, since airplane personnel can't discard their trash until the flight lands, why is it so difficult to separate the recyclables and transfer them to a recycling bin while on land? It doesn't seem like it would hold up the cleaning crews that much. Given the amount of fossil fuels burned by the airline industry, it seems that the least they could do is to try to help save energy in other ways.