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Southwest Airlines Repurpose with Purpose Program

Repurpose with Purpose is Southwest Airlines’® award-winning global environmental sustainability initiative that upcycles aircraft seat leather, helping keep the seat leather out of landfills.

The program was founded in 2014 after Southwest updated its seat design, resulting in 43 acres of aircraft seat leather that was no longer needed. The new design included a lighter weight leather, which decreased the weight of each aircraft by up to 600 pounds thereby increasing the fuel efficiency of each flight. Today, the Repurpose with Purpose program utilizes leather acquired through ongoing aircraft renovations and retirements.

Since 2014, Southwest has donated more than $2 million and 1.4 million pounds of leather to provide employment, skills training, and other social benefits for communities.

Turnip Green Creative Reuse x Southwest Airlines

In 2021, Turnip Green Creative Reuse (TGCR) took flight in partnership with Southwest Airlines through its Repurpose with Purpose program. After connecting people to life’s important moments through thousands of flights, leather from retired Southwest aircraft is donated to Turnip Green Creative Reuse, where it supports the organization’s mission of fostering sustainability, creativity, and community through reuse.

Since 2021, more than 247,219 pounds of aircraft seat covers have been diverted from landfills and transformed by the TGCR community of artisans, educators, and students—fueling hands-on learning and generating meaningful economic, educational, and environmental opportunities.

TGCR is proud to see our partnership with Southwest Airlines continue to soar.

TGCR X SW Metrics 2021-2026

● Seats Deconstructed: 33,000

● Pounds E-leather Diverted: 247,500

● Creativity Kits Distributed: 22,676

● Total Airplanes: 230 airplanes

About Turnip Green Creative Reuse

Turnip Green Creative Reuse is a local non-profit organization founded in 2011 that has diverted over 2.5 million pounds of usable material from Tennessee’s landfills. They take in an average of 1,500 pounds of donated hard-to-recycle materials each day and give them back to community members through a shopping center, education programming, and studio workshops.