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News Walt Disney World to eliminate self-service paper straws and plastic lids
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
I am totally in favor of getting rid of incandescent bulbs in favor of LEDs, but I want my straws and lids!
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I agree with this. The cups they currently use aren’t designed to be carried around lidless.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it's a weird argument (I have to assume they were joking) since one is about replacing an outdated technology with a newer one that's generally better in nearly every way* unless you're relying on that bulb for heat or to power small solar panels on indoor products while the other, for the sake of a lot of this discussion is just removing or reducing access to something without other adjustments to offset/compensate.
Sturdier cups, lids made of compostable materials with spouts - there are definitely solutions available. They'd cost more money for Disney, which is why they're going to at least try to avoid that route. If they hadn't already jacked prices up "because they can", they'd have wiggle room to pass the modest per-unit up-charge to guests in the pricing but since it's already ridiculous, I can understand why that would be unpopular.
*I don't think most people really miss rotary phones in any practical sense while sitting on their smart phone watching Youtube, for instance
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John park hopper
Well-Known Member
I like my incandescent light bulbs --stocked on them before the great ban
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
I know folks love their incandescents.
I just purchased a LED floor lamp that produces any shade of white you like, I was surprised, its very impressive.
Moving away from incandescents is one of the greatest, painless, passive way to save energy (and maybe save the planet
) as LEDs use a fraction of the power needed to generate more light.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I’m not sure what ice has to do with this. I was only joking when I started that particular tangent. No-one as I recall is suggesting that those who like ice in their drinks should go without, nor would avoiding ice get around the cups’ flimsiness.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I confess to still using incandescent Christmas lights in my apartment. To my eyes, the LED ones looks terrible by comparison (especially the blue). It would be very easy for some company to start manufacturing incandescent-style LED Christmas lights, but I’ve not found any (except in larger sizes).
Marionnette
Well-Known Member
I love my Yeti at home but DANG those things are heavy! I carried one around the MK for one day and left it in the room for the remainder of the trip. Now, if anyone can point me to a reusable lid for those paper cups, I'll buy one and use it on my next trip (along with my reusable straws).
But, for the average guest I'm still not in favor of playing "hide the lids and straws". I'm glad that they're behind the counter 8n order to prevent guests from taking more than they need. But I don't think it is a positive move anytime that a guest has to make a request for something that is considered to be normally included with a food/beverage order.
DisneyCane
Well-Known Member
That's not a valid analogy. LED bulbs (the well designed ones at least) are as good at providing quality light as incandescent bulbs, last much longer and use much less energy. There is very little downside except for the higher initial cost which is paid for in energy savings very quickly.
If Disney wants to go zero waste to landfill, how about using recyclable materials to make lids and straws and then recycling them. Or, use compostable lids and straws and make a big compost pile on property somewhere. If there is an additional cost (which I'm sure there would be) relative to plastic then charge a little more for drinks. The slight cost increase will be irrelevant in the scheme of the overall cost increases at WDW.
The goal of "environmentally friendly" changes should be to change what we are used to and enjoy as little as possible while being better to the environment. Phasing out straws and lids makes a massive change to what we are used to when innovation can be employed to be environmentally friendly while maintaining the current level that civilization has reached.
DisneyCane
Well-Known Member
I agree that the LED mini Christmas lights do not have the same warmth as the incandescent counterparts. The colors are too stark. I use LEDs for my outdoor display but still use incandescent for the Christmas tree inside to get the right "holiday feel." The Christmas tree lights aren't lit up for enough hours per year nor are they high enough wattage to really worry about the additional power consumption.
Basil of Baker Street
Well-Known Member
Anecdotally speaking I have found LED light bulbs last no longer that incandescent. I use LED's but with the higher purchase price, I can't say I'm saving anything.
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
I'm right there with you on this one. Those led xmas lights are just so grating on the eyes.
Mireille
Premium Member
Or bring a reusable straw? Everyplace I go they've switched to paper straws, so I have a foldable silicone straw that fits in a little case I have on my keychain. I honestly think they should stop offering disposable cups, too, (or charge for them) since most everyone brings in their own water bottle anyway. It's a change that, whatever Disney's motives, should be made. Plastic uses petroleum to make which is a huge waste. And compostable/recyclable lids and straws still take energy to make. I find the sturm und drang about this whole thing ridiculous. People just want to be mad, dreaming up scenarios where they can ruin a CMs day by being a huge Karen and throwing a fit in QS because they weren't given a straw without being asked.
Your information is based on a fatally flawed premise. Western countries, including the USA, are originators of much of this plastic trash - you ship it to developing countries at a very low price and expect them to dispose of it appropriately. Look at the size of most of the countries on that list - all densely populated and developing. Where do you expect the trash is going to end up? Endless landfills on top of which their populations should live?
If we were to scrutinize the actual origin of the plastic trash in the oceans, the US ends up placing THIRD. And in terms of overall plastic waste, the US is TOP.
US Among Top Contributors to Ocean Plastic Pollution
United States generates more plastic waste than any other country, ranks third in contributions to ocean plastic pollution, according to 2016 data
www.voanews.com
And that's just for plastic pollution. The US is also the worst contributor of carbon emissions per capita - way, way ahead of the countries on your list.
9 Charts Explain Per Capita Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Country
Examining a country’s greenhouse emissions relative to its population — or per capita emissions — tells a bigger story when comparing country responsibilities for climate change.
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
Those of us old enough can remember when soda was in glass bottles with a deposit. milk was also. As kids we would look for bottles and get the deposit ------buy candy. Most things were in glass-- plastic was a rarity --now it's rare to see anything in glass. Wonder whats more friendly to the environment.
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TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Glass is definitely healthier for us humans.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Probably not that easy to quantify because you'd have to look at beginning-to-end life of product from materials and energy used to make on through disposal or prep for reuse/recycling. In between, you also have to account for waste in the form of breakage, impact of added weight on transport, added packaging to prevent breaking during transport, etc.
I'm sure someone's run those numbers somewhere but outside of the industry, I don't know that it would be possible to get a clear picture on that.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
And glass is 100 percent recyclable! Not the case for plastic.
flynnibus
Premium Member
It's not even just glass vs plastic... it's about how you handle it. Goto other countries in the world and you have deposits on plastic bottles and self-serve redemption vending machines that not just take the bottles, give you money back, but shred the bottles to increase their holding capacity. It helps address the recycling separation issues, it provides a CONVENIENT way to get deposits back, etc.
What is more friendly is a complicated topic - because there are so many factors. Like, how much material is actually needed in the end product (a huge advantage to plastic grocery bags), how much it takes to generate, etc. This is why this is rarely about something that is 'better in every diminsion' and more about what elements you are trying to optimize for.
Example: We want to reduce landfill waste, but rely on a process that is more costly energy wise... but do so because energy we can optimize in other ways too.. on top of landfill reduction.
Paper production is an example of where these decisions are complex... because of the pollution during generation is a concern.. that can be weighed separately from the lifecycle concerns of the product.