Action: Ask your local airport to donate confiscated liquids

Let's try to get our local airports to keep brand-new bottles of shampoo out of the landfills, shall we? Crossposted at Daily Granola.

As everyone knows by now, U.S. airports are no longer allowing any liquids on board. Since no one knew this when going to the airport this morning, the airports have confiscated what I'm guessing is hundreds of thousands of shampoo/lotion bottles, toothpaste tubes, etc. The media is giving the impression that all this stuff is just being thrown away. (At the very least, I hope the TSA employees are snagging some of it... it's not necessarily fair, but it's what I would do if it were going to be tossed!)

So I just got an idea: Call/write your local airport and ask them to consider donating these items to a homeless shelter, women's shelter, back-to-school drive, food pantry or anywhere else they could be used. The thought of all this stuff going into landfills is making me cringe from the inside out. I bet a lot of the items are brand new, and even the ones that aren't (like shampoo that's been used once) could be of great use to people in need.

If any of the airports where you live are already doing this, post it in the comments. It'll brighten up my day a little. :)

Read my letter below - feel free to copy and paste for your own use.

To whom it may concern,

In light of the recent terror threat and new TSA rules regarding liquid items on board, you no doubt have confiscated a number of items from your passengers today and will continue to do so in the coming weeks. Many of these items, such as shampoo, lotion, toothpaste and other cosmetic items, may be brand new - and they could be used by local agencies working to help people in need.

There is no reason why sealed, never-used items should just be thrown away. I would like to encourage you to consider donating these types of items to a local homeless/domestic abuse shelter, food pantry, supply drive, or even thrift store. I'm sure they would be greatly appreciated by these organizations and the people they serve. Our environment would appreciate it, too.

If you were already planning such a donation, I'd love to hear about it! Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you for the service you provide to [where you live].

Sincerely,
[your name]
[city]