While over 200 delegates from around the world gather in the Spanish capital of Madrid to speak about climate change, Air New Zealand has come up with a novel way to reduce waste.

Whether it's teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg telling us we need to wake up to what we are doing to our planet or flight-shamers taking the train to prove a point, the fact is that something needs to be done.

Airlines are increasingly being singled out in regards to their CO2 emissions and are actively working on ways to reduce the size of their carbon footprint.

New Zealand is a climate change leader

New Zealand is a world leader when it comes to combatting climate change with the country pledging to be carbon neutral by 2050. After signing a recent bill to that effect, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said countries are not moving fast to combat the issue of global warming.

In a recent article about climate change, the New York Post quotes the New Zealand Prime Minister as saying:

"We're here because our world is warming. Undeniably it is warming. And so, therefore, the question for all of us is what side of history will we choose to sit on."

National flag carrier Air New Zealand has just announced its latest climate initiative: edible cups.

Yes, that’s right, while you are cruising over the Pacific Ocean at 30 something thousand feet Air New Zealand will be serving you steaming hot coffee in an edible cup. While this might sound a bit far-fetched and dare I say dangerous, the makers of the edible cups have assured passengers that their cups are up to the job.

Air New Zealand wants to be plastic-free

According to Air New Zealand, the airline serves a whopping eight million cups of coffee per year. It is hoping that this new initiative will help them in their goal to be plastic-free.

Made in New Zealand by Twiice, the edible cups will not just be used for serving drinks but deserts like ice cream as well. On their website, Twiice claims that the edible cups are simply made using just wheat flour, sugar, egg, and vanilla essence, and retail for around $15 for a six-pack.

The cups first debuted for Air New Zealand in their Auckland regional lounge where they serve around 600 cups of coffee on any given morning. When talking to lifestyle website insider.com Air New Zealand customer experience manager, Niki Chave said:

"We've been working in partnership with innovative New Zealand company Twiice to explore the future of edible coffee cups. Our current cups are compostable, but the ultimate goal would be to remove these totally from landfills."

Air New is already using plant-based coffee cups

Just this summer, Air New Zealand announced that it was going to use plant-based bio-degradable coffee cups while at the same time eliminating single-use water bottles and plastic straws. The airline event went so far as to stop serving plastic sauce sachets and is doing all it can to eliminate plastic altogether.

Co-founder of Twiice, Jamie Cashmore, said that the use of his company’s edible cups was a bold move that demonstrated Air New Zealand’s willingness to make a difference. He said,

"It showcases to the world that a little bit of Kiwi ingenuity and innovation can have a really positive impact on the environment."

I think that this is a great move by Air New Zealand and something that other airlines should consider doing too!

What do you think about edible coffee cups? Please let us know in the comments.