Southwest is partnering with Kenyan social enterprise Alive and Kicking to make footballs from seat covers, but are projects like this viable? Photograph: Southwest Airlines
So Southwest joined the international upcycling trend. Partnering with upcycler Looptworks in Portland, Oregon, the airline will turn a portion of its leather seats into tote bags, duffle bags and backpacks that the airline will buy back to to use as gifts at events.
“The water conserved by making goods using old leather rather than virgin leather is enormous,” says Looptworks co-founder Scott Hamlin. “For each bag, 4,000 gallons of water is saved. In addition, there’s a CO2 reduction of up to 82%.”