Project LUV Seat
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Southwest Airlines recently overhauled the interiors of its 737-700 craft and part of its 737-300 fleet. They chose eco-friendly materials for the redesign, simultaneously reducing aircraft weight by over 600 pounds, which translates into fuel efficiency and a greener flight.
Southwest also looked at what they could do with the considerable leftovers: the used leather coverings of 80,000 passenger seats.
In summer 2014, Southwest launched project LUV Seat: Repurpose with Purpose, which aims to fly the used leather to destinations worldwide to support education, skills and training initiatives that give back to communities.
Portland’s Looptworks created stylish bags from some of this leather in partnership with a nonprofit that provides skills training for disabled adults. Looptworks alone has saved more than 4,000 gallons (approximately 15,000 liters) of water per bag.
The donated leather is gaining literal traction in Kenya. SOS Children’s Villages Kenya teamed up with Maasai Treads, supporting youth from SOS Villages through a paid apprentice leather-working program. The 2,100 pairs of shoes produced have been donated to local causes: SOS Villages itself, an anti-jigger campaign by Ahadi Trust, and Cura Orphanage.
The leather has also become 1,000 soccer balls that Alive & Kicking will use in their campaign to provide awareness and education about HIV/Aids and malaria prevention in Kenya. Each one was hand stitched as part of a youth skills training program.
Life Beads Kenya will also receive materials to assist in their mission of providing vocational training to help break the cycle of poverty. In Malawi, the leather will help a new boarding school to kickstart their leatherworks program and generate supporting revenue.
This is just the beginning. Project LUV Seat is ongoing. You can follow the project online with the #LUVseat hashtag.
Read more about fabric-related innovations in The Technology Issue.