News Reusable shopping bags now available at all Walt Disney World owned and operated merchandise locations

[seascape]

Just a random thought: during the (WDW store management) discussions about possibly eliminating plastic bags, I wonder if they contemplated any paper bag solutions as well? (In my grocery store, they went from plastic to various sizes of paper bags last year.) As with the plastic bags, we don't pay for paper bags. The grocery store offers reusable bags for purchase, but it's also convenient for customers to have paper bags available when needed.

Paper bags (in addition to the purchased, reusable bags), may or may not be a viable option for the WDW shops, but I'm just curious if paper was ever discussed, as one possible solution.

I love paper bags. Trader Joe's uses them. However, if everyone went to paper bags it would cause more pollution. Plastic bags are actually more environmentally favorable that paper. The pollution in the manufacturing process both air and water is huge compared to plastic. As noted above the reusable bags also have problems if they are not reused and the fact is Disney bags will not be reused. If you don't believe me go into Ebay and look up the number of Disney park bags that are listed for sale. Talk about a waste of energy and money. Biodegradable plastic is a much more environmentally friendly material to use for bags but the green movement just doesn't get it.

 

[Nubs70]

I love paper bags. Trader Joe's uses them. However, if everyone went to paper bags it would cause more pollution. Plastic bags are actually more environmentally favorable that paper. The pollution in the manufacturing process both air and water is huge compared to plastic. As noted above the reusable bags also have problems if they are not reused and the fact is Disney bags will not be reused. If you don't believe me go into Ebay and look up the number of Disney park bags that are listed for sale. Talk about a waste of energy and money. Biodegradable plastic is a much more environmentally friendly material to use for bags but the green movement just doesn't get it.

Umm m, no. Plastic in not more environmentally favorable than paper.

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

Umm m, no. Plastic in not more environmentally favorable than paper.

 

[Nubs70]

View attachment 348909

Got the source for that?

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

Got the source for that?

Are paper bags really better for the planet than plastic bags?

Morrisons has ditched plastic produce bags for paper - but the environmental benefits are far from clear-cut

www.theweek.co.uk

All About Bags

Even though you never produced scources for your statement.

 

[seascape]

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Some people will never understand what we use, how we get it and how eliminating the use of oil and natural gas will ruin the country. That is one of the reasons the energy pavilion should have been updated rather than eliminated. What would happen to everything we use if oil and natural gas were eliminated? Could farmers come close to feeding the world? Would there be enough material to clothes the population? What about homes, can you build a home without using materials that come from oil and gas? The answer of course is no. We would be unable to take care of the worlds population without oil and gas. That is the story that should have put into an updated energy pavilion plus the fact that due to our intelligence we were able to fund new and cheaper ways to remove the oil and gas. The way to a cleaner environment is through the private sector. It is advances like these that have allowed the USA to lead the world in reducing our carbon footprint. I.E. fracking and natural gas. These are the facts and science not politics should rule.

 

[Nubs70]

Are paper bags really better for the planet than plastic bags?

Morrisons has ditched plastic produce bags for paper - but the environmental benefits are far from clear-cut

www.theweek.co.uk

All About Bags

Even though you never produced scources for your statement.

Didn't mean sources in pejorative sense, I have read several papers that claim plastic is better, however, most studies use premise that pulp/pmills mills are coal fired and do not include reforestation efforts. These underlying presumptions give a much higher than actual climate change impact.

 

[LuvWDW2]

We’ve been to WDW so many times that I rarely shop anymore (except a Christmas ornament or something small that I can easily put in my purse).

That being said, I have every intention of buying some of these next week to use at home for grocery shopping etc. So we’ll played Disney- you got me to shop!

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

Didn't mean sources in pejorative sense, I have read several papers that claim plastic is better, however, most studies use premise that pulp/pmills mills are coal fired and do not include reforestation efforts. These underlying presumptions give a much higher than actual climate change impact.

Scources ?

 

[Nubs70]

Scources ?

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_u...m6CmlAX1Dgv_LUYlY8Q_W8onA&nossl=1&oi=scholarr

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[Santa Raccoon 77]

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_u...m6CmlAX1Dgv_LUYlY8Q_W8onA&nossl=1&oi=scholarr

[/URL]

 

[MissingDisney]

Our local Disney store does not have any plastic. None. Buy the standard size reusable tote for a buck or two (only one size available) or purchase a much larger, but also much nicer, padded nylon tote for around $10, I believe. It’s actually a great size-you could literally use it as a carryon, but is a one time purchase type of thing.

When it first went into effect people were stunned. Since the store is in a mall, many just put their purchases in a bag they already had while others seemed to like the bag/totes. There was an adjustment but in all my hours spent in the store (don’t judge, ) I’ve never heard a tantrum or someone just saying forget it, I don’t want to buy......

It is weird walking out of the store with a mug or picture frame tucked neatly in my purse, paid for, of course. But still feels wrong.

 

[KrzyKtty]

Are they bringing bags like these to Disneyland?

 

[Disstevefan1]

Very nice designs. These are eventually replacing the single use bags?

The plastic bags are reusable, beautiful and free...

 

[James J]

Are they bringing bags like these to Disneyland?

The bottom left one in the second photo looks to be a Disneyland bag.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Starting to sound like a money grab. I'm not carrying these things around. I'll just buy one for each day's purchases then toss it. They need recycle points at the resorts and park entrances. I'd be fine with dropping off the old ones at the park entrance.

It's a win win for Disney; it's a money grab that makes Disney APPEAR environmentally friendly!

 

[Disstevefan1]

I can promise the plastic bags aren’t going anywhere any time soon

Source: am a CM and was told by management

I hope so, I love the big, beautiful, free plastic bags

 

[JohnD]

Starting to sound like a money grab. I'm not carrying these things around. I'll just buy one for each day's purchases then toss it. They need recycle points at the resorts and park entrances. I'd be fine with dropping off the old ones at the park entrance.

So you’ll happily participate in the money grab by buying the bags then tossing them? Um, okay. Disney doesn’t care what you do with them. Given a choice of purchasing a reusable bag or no bag at all, I would rather purchase a bag once and reuse it if only to save money.

 

[JohnD]

Are you asking how is it a money grab? You have to pay for them, don't you? I'm not against this, I'm just saying they're going into the trash when I get home, just like the plastic. I would like a way to recycle them.

You’re logic is so flawed. So you would rather purchase the bag every time and throw it in the trash. Yeah, that’ll show Disney. SMH.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Let me preface this with the fact that I am pro-environementally friendly initiatives and I usually have my backpack with me the first couple of days of my trips so that I can get my shopping out of the way and not have to carry around a plastic bag in my hands all day (and those are the days that I usually bring my big camera before minimizing everything the last couple of days of my trip). I do appreciate that, in addition to offering the reusable bags, their next question when I was there this week was whether I needed a bag at all (in the past, it seemed purchases were slapped in a bag before I had a chance to decline).

That said, even if they may have tentative plans to stop the use of plastic bags, I would be shocked if that plan ever goes through for several reasons:

• A sufficient percentage of customers will probably be inclined to forego purchases instead of having to pay a bag surcharge every time they want to buy something at the parks (particularly when multiple purchases means the original bag you bought isn't big enough for all your stuff and you have to buy yet another bigger one now to hold the smaller one(s)).
• It's a noble effort to try to decrease plastic use waste (side note - I noticed several places this past week that still have plastic straws readily available), but aside from good intentions and good PR, I don't think they will let the policy impact their bottom line.
• Reusable bags aren't for everybody: unless you actually plan to reuse them many times over, the environmental impact is far worse per bag than the plastic ones you usually get. Canvas bags have to be reused 171 times to be more eco-friendly than plastic; cotton is over 200 times; the best polypropylene bags (which is probably what the Disney bags are) need to be reused 11 times to be more eco-friendly. Personally, all the plastic bags I get from Disney, the grocery store, or whatever either get used as trashcan liners, kitty litter bags, or deposited in a bin for use at the local food pantry. My collection of reusable bags goes into a stack in a closet, where I never think about them again until they are in the way enough to just be tossed. I tend to get at least one reuse out of regular bags (for tasks that I would otherwise have to purchase plastic bags for anyway) and zero reuses out of reusable bags. I applaud those that reuse bags religiously, but I would hazard a guess that there are a lot more people that, despite their best intentions, simply aren't going to get enough use out of the reusable bags to justify them as their only option. Eleven is not a lot of times to reuse something, but for a standard consumer, forcing the reusable bag that they won't reuse is environmentally like charging them $2 and throwing away 11 single use plastic ones.

In short, between the fact that forcing reusable bags on people that won't reuse them is actually worse for the environment and the fact that forcing the issue will likely negatively impact Disney's bottom line, I don't think they will ever do more than cut down the use of the plastic.

Excellent post. Thank you for spreading the truth