There have been many travel-related stories in the various news outlets recently. Here are some of the most interesting……and gross.

Apparently there is a country that works more hours than the US–Japan. They take even less vacation than we do.

I can’t even think about this, it is so gross. I’m not normally a violent person, but if this happened I would kick. someone’s. ass. Maggots falling from an overhead bin would freak me the f out. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Yet another story that makes you want to bring your own food onto a plane. (Just not rotting meat, see above.) Apparently the FDA thinks airline kitchens have issues. I never thought I would hear anything that made me re-think wanting to be in first class, but this……hmmmmm.

And now that I have contributed my ray of sunshine to the day, I will get back to work on my real job.

In honor of Earth Day on Thursday, April 22, all of my posts this week are going to focus on some aspect of traveling green. If you know of something I should write about, send me an email! RoadWarriorette@gmail.com

Two great news stories so far this week for green traveling! I love it.

First: Big news in the Star Tribune. Six airlines have promised the US government that they will NOT charge for carry-on luggage. This was a concern for many in Congress, because once one airline does it, the whole industry often follows (remember checked baggage fees? no free food on flights? charging for pillows and blankets? etc.). Thank you to Delta, American, Sun Country, JetBlue, United, and US Air for nipping this in the bud. (Not on the list? Continental and Air Tran to name a few.) How is this green travel news, you ask? Well, as green travelers it is always our goal to bring only what we need. If all travelers did that, less fuel would be used for starters. However, if you have to pay to bring your bag on regardless, people will start bringing more stuff and weighing planes down because they will just go ahead and check. This is good news on the financial front, too.

In USA Today’s Airport Check In, there is an article about Sea-Tac implementing a new program to get airlines to recycle more. Since not too many airlines recycle at all, this is a huge step. Not only are they encouraging recycling, they are saving money! A great concept, and one I hope takes off in other locations as well.

The last few days have given us some pretty crazy news stories, travel-wise. For those of you who don’t religiously follow the travel news blogs and tweets, here are the highlights.

RyanAir to start charging for the loo. Seriously, I am not making that up. On flights less than an hour, RyanAir will start charging for passengers to use the restroom. Prices will be around $1.50 per use. According to NPR, the point is not to raise money (yeah right), but to discourage disruptive behavior. It also allows them to go down to one toilet per plane, and put in six extra seats. Wow.

Spirit to start charging for carry-on luggage. No, I am not making that up either. I had to read that headline three times before I got why it was a big deal. Prices could go up to $45 each way. Again, wow.

US Air and United in merger talks. This would be the country’s second largest airline, if the merger goes through. Shockingly (not) shares went up for both companies once the rumors came out.

Welcome to the first edition of Good News, Bad News. Today we will be focused on airlines, specifically American and Continental.

Good news: MSNBC is reporting that American Airlines is expanding its use of “mobile boarding passes” to 19 new airports. I have never used this service, but it sounds very cool, and incredibly convenient. I heard a few people in the early days say that it didn’t work for them, but supposedly the kinks are ironed out now. I think I will try it when I fly to Nashville next week.

And the bad news: CNN reports that Continental is going to discontinue giving customers in economy class free food on domestic flights, and flights to leisure destinations such as Cancun. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken them this long to discontinue the free food on domestic flights. It is the only airline I’ve flown on in the last few years that is still giving free food domestically. However, I think that not feeding the spring break or honeymoon crowd on the way to Cancun is a little surprising. Yes, it’s less than three hours from  Houston, but it’s still international. Of course, the last time I ate free food on Continental coming home from Cancun I’m pretty sure I got food poisoning. But whatever.