News Re-Usable Bag Price Increases

[MrPromey]

In case anyone is wondering about the practicalities of this Disneyland Paris has not had plastic bags since 2019 and the world hasn't ended over here.

And as it's related since February all 'one use' food packaging for eat in meals is now against French law, so for example if you have an eat in quick service meal everything is now reusable. Not the greatest photo (I found online) but you can see how the Stark Factory food is presented. Also just for fun look what McDonald's looks like in France now. Personally I think it's a huge improvement.

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Wonder how they serve that Happy Meal to go.

 

[MrPromey]

See, that’s what makes me shake my head…If TWDC REALLY wanted to set an example about their carbon footprint, they’d do away with those total waste of plastics, otherwise known as clamshell packaging…they could just put all their subpar plastic toys in a cardboard box and eliminate all that plastic, but NO let’s promote our merchandise and leave it up to the saps, I mean our consumers to deal with the disposal…

They could go the approach many in the toy industry have of removing the majority of the plastic in the packaging and designing it so things like twisty-ties or degradable twine are used to hold the item in place at multiple points allowing it to both be displayable but also touchable before purchasing but require to packaging to be opened from the back/bottom to actually remove.

I'd guess this probably costs more do to the labor both manual and automated needed to package them this way and that's bad when it comes to Disney's idea of "Green".

 

[Nubs70]

Once upon a time, they actually had paper bags, at least for smaller items.

And paper bags fell victim to the 80's enviro trend of "Save the Rain Forest" eventhough paper bags were not made from rain forest wood.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Wonder how they serve that Happy Meal to go.

And I wonder if that toy is wrapped in plastic…

 

[SoFloMagic]

So, instead of using a sanitary disposable spoon (which is the SOP in kitchens all over the globe for health and safety purposes) we are going to increase the number of metal spoons required to be ordered/used and increase the water and chemical output used to wash said spoons each night?

Which one really ends up being more green? The disposable spoon in the trash or the additional wastes resources by having to wash an additional 5,000+ spoons across property each day?

Are you saying that adding one additional metal spoon to an already-running dishwasher uses more resources than producing and refining the crude, transporting across China, creating the polymer, transporting, molding, wrapping with another piece of plastic, shipping to a port, shipping to a sysco hub, shipping to the kitchen?

Some things are greenwashing. Using a metal spoon instead of 500 disposable ones is not greenwashing.

 

[cjkeating]

Wonder how they serve that Happy Meal to go.

If you are referring to Happy Meal style container, the burger is served underneath that. If you are eating 'to go' you still get one use packaging.

And I wonder if that toy is wrapped in plastic…

McDonald's France has phased out plastic toys they are now made of sustainable materials. I believe this is happening globally as well.

 

[MrPromey]

If you are referring to Happy Meal style container, the burger is served underneath that. If you are eating 'to go' you still get one use packaging.

I was.

Thanks for explaining.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I can’t imagine them actually being able to phase out single use bags. They are going to have lines of people complaining that they’re being forced to buy bags to carry their $250 worth of purchases around the park.

People will line up like sheep to pay $25 a day for G+ and not lose a wink of sleep, but make them pay for a bag and I promise it will be a nightmare.

I can see them charging $0.50 per plastic bag or something like some stores are doing. But I agree, I don't see them doing this. Tens of thousands of transactions per day from people all over the world. People need a bag to put stuff in, it's just not practical.

 

[HoustonHorn]

The reusable bags are absolutely a virtue-signaling money grab!

Remember shortly after they were introduced, ostensibly to reduce the amount of disposable plastic bags, they announced the Ziploc sponsorship of Splash Mountain (RIP), where every guest was handed......a disposable plastic Ziploc bag to protect their gear on the ride!

That said, I actually really like the bags, which I use for grocery shopping here at home. They are my Saturday morning reminder of being a place I really enjoy. When I was there in December, I picked up a couple of the 50th Anniversary ones. They were sturdier than the old park-specific bags. So I wonder if the new bags will be sturdier than version 1.0.

 

[Riviera Rita]

I hate the reckless amount of plastic bags that are handed out and when you refuse one because you don't want or need one the CMs are almost crestfallen.
Where I live plastic bags have not been free since 2010 and Disney should charge a quarter for a bag and donate the proceeds to their conservation charity.
I love the reusable bags, they make great and cheap gifts.

 

[Touchdown]

Again, the most eco friendly choice in Florida is Paper bags, natural, and biodegradable. They are more expensive then plastic bags and do use more water to make, but that’s not a problem in the Eastern US.

 

[aladdin2007]

But you visit most places more often than WDW, which sees many one-and-done, or once-every-few-years type customers. It will also take some time for Disney to set the expectation for people to bring bags with them on vacation, something most people don't do.

For what people are already paying for admission and merch, this will look more like nickle-and-diming than waste reduction for most guests.

and shouldn't have to.........and especially this!! Disney continues to operate as if they are going out of business, the worst way to run a business and it just looks bad on them. That's what happens when only bean counters are in control.

 

[jpeden]

Are you saying that adding one additional metal spoon to an already-running dishwasher uses more resources than producing and refining the crude, transporting across China, creating the polymer, transporting, molding, wrapping with another piece of plastic, shipping to a port, shipping to a sysco hub, shipping to the kitchen?

Some things are greenwashing. Using a metal spoon instead of 500 disposable ones is not greenwashing.

It isn’t one spoon. It’s thousands upon thousands a day across property. Think of the increased water, energy, and chemicals once you aggregate that. I highly doubt it’s much greener than they make it out to be.

As said earlier - a truly green solution would be to go to bamboo spoons so they’re both single use for hygiene purposes and truly biodegradable.

 

[Hawg G]

And paper bags fell victim to the 80's enviro trend of "Save the Rain Forest" eventhough paper bags were not made from rain forest wood.

And they all end up in the same landfill, where paper vs plastic matters not.

 

[Hawg G]

If you are referring to Happy Meal style container, the burger is served underneath that. If you are eating 'to go' you still get one use packaging.

McDonald's France has phased out plastic toys they are now made of sustainable materials. I believe this is happening globally as well.

And the new toys SUCK.

 

[Brian]

Are you saying that adding one additional metal spoon to an already-running dishwasher uses more resources than producing and refining the crude, transporting across China, creating the polymer, transporting, molding, wrapping with another piece of plastic, shipping to a port, shipping to a sysco hub, shipping to the kitchen?

Some things are greenwashing. Using a metal spoon instead of 500 disposable ones is not greenwashing.

It's not one metal spoon. A proper tasting involves using a new spoon for each dish in order to ensure they are only tasting the exact dish with no residual from the other dishes. Just one person alone can easily go through 20-30 spoons for a tasting at the Flavor Lab. Not only that, but even a properly washed/sanitized metal utensil can have a "taste" to it due to a number of factors, and using one for a tasting can influence the taste of the dish and skew the outcome.

That's why they've always used plastic spoons.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

This is why I now take a sling backpack with me when I am at the parks. If I buy something, I just tell the CM that I don’t need a bag and throw it in my backpack after I pay.

That's what we do - we always have a backpack with us and will just put the item in there, no bag needed if small enough. We also will have collapsible reusable bags with us if we really need it.

And if we are buying many things/big things we just have them shipped directly home - which is surprisingly affordable at Disney

Would also be nice if they brought back the "ship to resorts" feature so if people don't want to carry stuff or don't have a bag with them, that is another option

 

[Touchdown]

Would also be nice if they brought back the "ship to resorts" feature so if people don't want to carry stuff or don't have a bag with them, that is another option

Or at least a pickup option at the front gate at close like other parks have.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Or at least a pickup option at the front gate at close like other parks have.

Do they not have this anymore either? MK's pick up location was to the left of City Hall.

 

[Touchdown]

Do they not have this anymore either? MK's pick up location was to the left of City Hall.

It was stopped during the pandemic, no idea of it came back.