News Disney removing plastic straws and more by mid-2019

[Lensman]

Paper bags. Oh, wait... those were outlawed to save the trees and we were told to use plastic instead.

Let me try again:

Where are people getting this idea? That's not how I remember it and I shopped my way through the "do you want paper or plastic" era of the mid-80s. My recollection is that the move was motivated by money-savings by retailers and marketing campaigns by the petrochemical industry.

Note the following article from 1986 about paper vs plastic at the grocery checkout line:
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-06-13/news/mn-10728_1_plastic-bags



Here's a 2014 article in The Atlantic on the rise of the plastic grocery bag:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/how-the-plastic-bag-became-so-popular/381065/

I found an interesting slideshare on the eternal war between paper and plastic presented in 1998 at the Annual Meeting of the Plastic Bag Association:
https://www.slideshare.net/george.makrauer/how-plastic-bags-got-killed
It's good to get the perspective from the industry about the battles between the Plastic Bag Association and the American Paper Institute. One thing that came out was the ruthlessness of both competing industries in funding "educational" campaigns for the public and environmental studies. It reminds me of a friend of mine who got research money from a diet pill maker to study addiction. His funding was cut off after results showed that rats became addicted to the diet pills!

I found it interesting that when I went to China in 2008, merchants would charge a nominal fee for every plastic shopping bag they gave out. A friend of mine in Hawaii said that they recently implemented a law requiring merchants to charge for disposable bags. Everyone is complaining because grocery stores are getting rid of their bag credit as a result.

 

[Chi84]

Let me try again:


I found it interesting that when I went to China in 2008, merchants would charge a nominal fee for every plastic shopping bag they gave out. A friend of mine in Hawaii said that they recently implemented a law requiring merchants to charge for disposable bags. Everyone is complaining because grocery stores are getting rid of their bag credit as a result.

It provides an excuse for throwing up your hands and not doing anything.

 

[flynnibus]

I found it interesting that when I went to China in 2008, merchants would charge a nominal fee for every plastic shopping bag they gave out. A friend of mine in Hawaii said that they recently implemented a law requiring merchants to charge for disposable bags. Everyone is complaining because grocery stores are getting rid of their bag credit as a result.

It is quite a common thing in Europe and even here in the states too... just very localized here in the states and not as uniform.

 

[Texas84]

Disney re-usable bags are a buck? I'll end up throwing those away as well.

 

[flynnibus]

No worries... we can have different recollections. I lived in SoCal at the time. I recall a very strong push to save the trees by not using paper bags.

Because it's easy to manipulate the willing....

aka spin a story people want to hear... and they'll champion it for you

 

[wdwmagic]

Ziploc plastic bag distribution to begin soon at Splash Mountain

 

[21stamps]

I wonder if anyone noticed the word “reduce”.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

I'm OK with re-usable bags, but I really don't want to buy any more. I'm drowning in them here at home. Am more than willing to bring my own bags. Will I be able to hand them to a CM at a store like I do at the grocery store now?

Thing is, if I'm buying something in the park, I'm always doing resort or front gate delivery. So...Circling back to resort delivery of purchases. will I be able to use my bag--just not sure how that will work.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

The other day I went to Cosmic Rays for lunch and as I want to open the door I thought to myself “what is that sound? It almost sounds like the waves of the ocean coming crashing to the shore, how odd” and as I pulled open the door a giant tidal wave of Coca Cola came crashing over top of me, toddlers bobbing up in down in it, frantic parents treading water in the mixture of coke, diet, and sprite, trying to stay a float. People grabbing onto chairs and tables as flotation devices as the sea of fizzy drinks came flooding out into the the Tomorrowland concourse, lemon wedges and ice cubes floating along the top. I yelled to one passer by holding onto a BBQ sauce dispenser for dear life “what’s happened?!” And as he drifted away into the carbonated abyss he yelled back “everyone keeps spilling their drinks because they took away or lidsssssss”

This is what I picture everytime someone says that people are spilling drinks everywhere because no lid/straw. People have survived just fine at zoos/waterparks/concerts/multiple other venues, we will all be fine!

....and most of us don't use straws at home.

 

[peter11435]

I'm OK with re-usable bags, but I really don't want to buy any more. I'm drowning in them here at home. Am more than willing to bring my own bags. Will I be able to hand them to a CM at a store like I do at the grocery store now?

Thing is, if I'm buying something in the park, I'm always doing resort or front gate delivery. So...Circling back to resort delivery of purchases. will I be able to use my bag--just not sure how that will work.

You can use your bag to carry your items away when you pick them up at your resort or front gate.

 

[MickeyCB]

Disney should try edible straws and a new sponsor.

View attachment 307420

that is just freakin awesome!!

 

[MickeyCB]

We just got back from Disney Hilton Head and they have the paper straws (big mushy yucko), but they still have plastic lids and still have plastic bags at the stores.
People are saying the straws are biodegradable, but my question is -when you dump your quick service meals and snack trash into a garbage can, does someone actually separate the items in there at some point later? If someone knows how the trash is addressed I would be curious to know. I don't understand how the process works.

 

[Nubs70]

I am so glad they are doing away with the plastic straws!!!! The new paper straws they are using at Animal Kingdom are biodegradable, so they are not harmful to the environment.

Not a true statement.

 

[John park hopper]

Maybe the plastic straw/lids and cup manufacturers should sponsor some WDW attraction and hand out straws and lids. You would see WDW drop their plastic straw/lid ban real quick. When it comes to Disney money talks. Seems it's OK for ZIploc to sponsor Splash Mountain and give out plastic ziplock bags. Sorry Disney your are being hypocrites.

WDW 72, 73, 74, 75, 77(honeymoon), 86(boys first visit), 90, 95, 97, 98, 17(4

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

They already do use reusable liquid soap dispenser in all bathrooms in the park and public areas.

Many, many hotels and gyms already use dispensers. From a google search I can find one blog with an objection but not really any reports of "bad" substances being put into the bottles.

The in-room bottles are locked in place as in the below picture, so the chance of a guest tampering is very very low anyway.

While I fully agree in that I also have never heard of a single complaint, keep in mind a TON of people refuse to use them. By putting these in, especially the business-style hotels, has either further encouraged bringing your own or converted travelers to bringing their own. I travel for a living and know of not a single business traveler that would touch these. With regard to the lock, it’s meaningless. The way these pumps work, you simply press the pump down, and as it travels back up it will suck anything that is in the opening. Try it with your own shampoo bottle pump. Press some into your hand and before letting it back up, hold the end in your hand and the shampoo will go right back in the bottle. And not to be gross but... just use your imagination as to how easily anything can be added to these bottles.

Again, I agree that there are few if any complaints. But these numbers may be slanted because of the number of people actually using them (or not using them). IMO, this, like the plastic lids and straws, is a cost cutting measure and nothing more. Ironically, I have zero issue with either as I bring my own shampoo regardless and have been able to handle lidless cups for years lol

 

[John park hopper]

I will bring my own shampoo and soap from now on. Did not realize they will suck things back up. I can just imagine some nut case putting some hair moving product in those. I like my hair on my head not in the drain.

 

[Chi84]

I will bring my own shampoo and soap from now on. Did not realize they will suck things back up. I can just imagine some nut case putting some hair moving product in those. I like my hair on my head not in the drain.

What if the nut case (being nuts) did not think to wait until the last day of his Disney vacation to take the hair removing product into the shower and cause it to be sucked up into the shampoo dispenser? He could end up removing his own hair!

I did notice an uptick in bald guys the last time we were at Disney, but I thought they were just making a fashion statement. Who knew?

 

[Lensman]

I will bring my own shampoo and soap from now on. Did not realize they will suck things back up. I can just imagine some nut case putting some hair moving product in those. I like my hair on my head not in the drain.

I'm not worried about this. It's like the myth and paranoia about poisoned halloween candy being given out. Doesn't happen. (The sad exception being parents poisoning their own kids.)

 

[Gitson Shiggles]

If someone really wanted to tamper with the new toiletries, they just have to buy the dispenser keys online. They are available to the general public and are inexpensive.

Next time people go for the shampoo at GF, but they get Mrs. Butterworth’s instead, well....

I’ve always brought my own shampoo and soap.

 

[LittleBuford]

I will bring my own shampoo and soap from now on. Did not realize they will suck things back up. I can just imagine some nut case putting some hair moving product in those. I like my hair on my head not in the drain.

It’s just as possible to tamper with the little bottles.