News Disney removing plastic straws and more by mid-2019

[larryz]

Purchasing bags has been a thing here in Europe for years, sales have not dipped and people bring their own bags, carry the items or put them in their pockets, backpacks or whatever. Why do you need four bags? Either take bags from home so you are ready or buy one (or two if necessary) and just share them amongst you, you don’t need a bag each. Empty them out in your room and take the same bags back the next day. You will not end up with a house full if you do it properly, buy a few and constantly reuse them until they fall apart and then recycle them and replace them. It might take a while to get used to but it certainly isn’t difficult.

well, yeah, but that's 'cause they're going shopping. people going to theme parks aren't likely carrying their shopping bags around with them.

 

[larryz]

*Russian accent* In Mother Russia,.. bag purchases you

That's Russist!

 

[Horizons '83]

People who care about the environment, which is apparently a bad thing.

haha wow, thats a new one for me. I've heard the old "Tree Hugger" phrase before but not this.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

haha wow, thats a new one for me. I've heard the old "Tree Hugger" phrase before but not this.

I’m torn... I’m not a “tree hugger” but I do love bunnies... have even hugged one or two...

 

[TOCPE82]

My SO and I were buying coffee at the Joffrey's booth outside of AK this last week, and the couple in front of us, and couple behind us were confused why they didn't get straws. The husband of the couple behind us even asked "How am I supposed to drink it?", which I sarcastically responded to under my breath by saying "with your mouth".

I think the no straw thing will catch on eventually, it will just take people time.

I have already seen the difference with the bags when we are shopping at the Disney store's around us locally. They started pushing the reusable bags for 99 cents, and we will either pick one up, or just stuff the object in another bag or our backpack. We found ourselves doing that a lot in the parks the last week, just tossing it in our bag if it was small, otherwise we just held it up front until the end of the day. I think it's all about changing people's habits on these things.

It's not so much the lack of a straw for me, as it is the lack of a lid. My kids SPILL ANYTHING without a lid. A sipper lid would be fine.

 

[AndyS2992]

well, yeah, but that's 'cause they're going shopping. people going to theme parks aren't likely carrying their shopping bags around with them.

Well now we know Disney will stop handing out bags people should get in the habit of taking some.

 

[LittleBuford]

I happen to love bunnies (!!) and am not the PP, but I take such terms to mean “loving” the environment without any regard to the facts — to how much any initiative actually makes sense or would actually help. Some bristle against facts on such issues. That’s just silly.

A good number of the more sceptical posts in this thread (not yours, I hasten to add!) have been outright dismissive of any initiative Disney is taking to reduce plastic. Yes, there are PR and financial reasons for these changes, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t have a positive environmental impact. I don’t see how the “Bunny Hugger” characterisation is helpful to the debate.

 

[zachrupertdsn]

It's not so much the lack of a straw for me, as it is the lack of a lid. My kids SPILL ANYTHING without a lid. A sipper lid would be fine.

I am guessing we will be seeing the sipper style lid Starbucks uses more and more.

 

[Jon81uk]

I'm fine with them offering this lovely OPTION at $1-$2 a pop.

But if they get rid of plastic bags in the parks our purchases will go way down. There's nothing that we buy there anymore that we feel like we "need". Also, many items are available through the app for delivery home (PSSSST DISNEY... this requires MORE disposable material than a plastic bag). And I've said it before -- guess where all the "reusable" bags start to show up when people build up a house full of them? Trash. One bag is cute -- but when there are 4 of us making purchases in the parks for 10 days, this becomes ridiculous. Other stores is one thing, but in the parks is something else IMO.

If you are repeatedly going to World of Disney (which is the only place offering the reusable bags at the moment) then just take a bag back again the next time you go to Disney Springs.

Over here in the UK, stores have to charge at least 5p for carrier bags and many charge 10p, I now try to take a bag with me a lot of the time. If I was going to Disney Springs to shop I would plan ahead if I knew all stores charged for bags.

Yes I get your point that the parks are difference and you might not take a rucksack or bag into the park. But if you do have a bag on you, use it!

 

[zachrupertdsn]

Not in Aug with non-boxed items. How would they manage that? Aforementioned baskets?

Reusable boxes that they take back? Peapod tried that in our area... boxes with loose grocery items inside (no bags)... they lost so many boxes in the process and apparently received so many complaints about inconvenience that they’ve gone back to including plastic bags!

Not every environmentally friendly idea is a good one.

Maybe they will still use bags just for those items then? In the original announcement it said reduction of plastic bags. For small items we just tossed those in our mini backpack we take to the park, but I also get not everyone does that.

 

[Jon81uk]

But if they get rid of plastic bags in parks, you’ll have to buy a bag every time you want something held up front for pickup. If one does that occasionally, no big deal. But if you do that a lot as you shop throughout the day, that gets expensive AND wasteful because you’d be stockpiling reusable bags over a trip. Are people going to bring ALL of them home or just throw some away?

Strong paper bags would work fine for pick up or resort delivery orders. Also the way they staple bags shut for resort delivery means its no use to use again anyway, they would have to carry on using some form of packaging for the resort delivery stuff.

 

[Jon81uk]

Reusable boxes that they take back? Peapod tried that in our area... boxes with loose grocery items inside (no bags)... they lost so many boxes in the process and apparently received so many complaints about inconvenience that they’ve gone back to including plastic bags!

Quite a lot of grocery supermarket deliveries over here use crates to stack the groceries in the van. If you opt for bagless (as there is a 50p charge for bags) then they use exactly the same crates and the driver waits for you to take the items out, yes it takes a few extra seconds to take 20 items out a crate instead of three bags, but the crates are strong and resuable, the bags are not needed.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Just too inconvenient in a theme park where we strive to go bagless and send purchases to the room. I wouldn’t be surprised if they saw a dip in theme park store purchases if they entirely remove plastic bags. They have to be thinking about that...

If one thing gets TDO's attention, it's lower sales. I bet they will be watching sales very closely to see if there's an impact. My personal belief - This won't move the needle much, so TDO won't care.

I happen to love bunnies (!!) and am not the PP, but I take such terms to mean “loving” the environment without any regard to the facts — to how much any initiative actually makes sense or would actually help. Often reflexively accepting any initiative under the banner of “caring about the environment” without examining it. Some bristle against facts on such issues. That’s just silly.

Groupthink and blind acceptance - It's easier than thinking.

Due to being burned more times than I can remember (fool me once, shame on you, fool me multiple times... let's just move on, lol ), I've become too jaded to not just automatically think, "Follow the money" on most things these days. Very few things are done selflessly anymore. There's almost always an ulterior motive in the business world, and it's rarely the feel-good, "good for the environment" PR fluff that gets put out.

 

[flynnibus]

If they improved the resort delivery and pickup options... customer demand for bags would drop too.

Unfortunately the resort delivery option is pretty damn crude and not always useful (too long of delivery windows) and bag pickup for the majority of guests would scare me.

 

[Horizons '83]

If they improved the resort delivery and pickup options... customer demand for bags would drop too.

Unfortunately the resort delivery option is pretty damn crude and not always useful (too long of delivery windows) and bag pickup for the majority of guests would scare me.

Purely out of curiosity, what pickup options would you like to see improved? The only thing I would like to see is their ability to deliver packages on your last day of your vacation. Other than that I have had great success with the current process.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

If you are repeatedly going to World of Disney (which is the only place offering the reusable bags at the moment) then just take a bag back again the next time you go to Disney Springs.

We never go there. We shop in the parks only.

Over here in the UK, stores have to charge at least 5p for carrier bags and many charge 10p, I now try to take a bag with me a lot of the time.

As I said, I do this at home ALL the time. I also grew up in Canada where they started doing this MANY years ago. While I have way too many "reusable" bags and sometimes don't love it, I do absolutely make an effort to bring bags. We just don't always have them on us when we decide to make a last-minute stop to shop.

Yes I get your point that the parks are difference and you might not take a rucksack or bag into the park. But if you do have a bag on you, use it!

We already do this if my husband is carrying a backpack (he sometimes does). Other than that, we have no bags on us.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Strong paper bags would work fine for pick up or resort delivery orders. Also the way they staple bags shut for resort delivery means its no use to use again anyway, they would have to carry on using some form of packaging for the resort delivery stuff.

I'm with you! If they offered paper bags for that, I'm happy. Just not ONLY reusables -- not practical for every circumstance.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Quite a lot of grocery supermarket deliveries over here use crates to stack the groceries in the van. If you opt for bagless (as there is a 50p charge for bags) then they use exactly the same crates and the driver waits for you to take the items out, yes it takes a few extra seconds to take 20 items out a crate instead of three bags, but the crates are strong and resuable, the bags are not needed.

Plastic crates don't work for unattended deliveries that are quite popular around here. Companies won't leave those, and customers don't want to have to store them until they can be picked up.

Again -- there isn't always a great environmentally friendly and workable option.

I'm all for the environmentally friendly options that actually WORK and make sense. Not those that don't.

 

[larryz]

Well now we know Disney will stop handing out bags people should get in the habit of taking some.

So that raises a key question about the security checkpoints: if I have bags, but they're empty, folded up and in my pockets, can I still go through the "no bags" line?

 

[21stamps]

In all seriousness, people..

Does anyone think there’s just a tad bit of overreaction going on?

The bulk of toddlers are going to have a sippy cup of water or a milk or bottled water..

The majority of people shouldn’t really care about a reusable bag.

I don’t know.. some of these posts are just so out there. Other amusement parks do just fine without lids.

Is Disney doing away with lids and straws at sit down restaurants for kids? Has anyone verified this?