TheMaxRebo
Well-Known Member
Just got to WDW, staying at Port Orleans Riverside ... saw this sign at Muddy Rivers Bar (though it does have a mug of straws right next to it)
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News Walt Disney World to eliminate self-service paper straws and plastic lids
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Nubs70
Well-Known Member
Lasers and projectors require electrical generation which pollutes directly through emissions or indirectly through decommissioning, inefficiency, or construction/operation of the generator itself.
Ones comfort is always someone else's waste depending on the perspective of someone else's pedestal.
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
Looks like a petrochemically derived sign.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Disney should really go back to paper cards like other theme parks instead of RFID plastic ones.
And I stand by those balloons on Mainstreet, those cause the most harm because reducing plastic waste is nice, focusing on the waste you have not ending up easier where it should not is just as important.
And I stand by those balloons on Mainstreet, those cause the most harm because reducing plastic waste is nice, focusing on the waste you have not ending up easier where it should not is just as important.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
I guess balloons, like fireworks, fall under the “entertainment clause” - as long as it’s entertainment it’s fine to harm the environment.
I guess balloons, like fireworks, fall under the “entertainment clause” - as long as it’s entertainment it’s fine to harm the environment.
And the plastic ticket that millions of guests get annually for Annual Passes, day tickets and hard ticketed events for holidays fall under the we don't care clause for them.
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
Popcorn buckets.
Not only the plastic bucket itself but also the popcorn within.
The growing and propagation of the kernel to purchaser (ground preparation, seeding, pest control, irrigation, harvesting, transport to processing, packaging, transport to WDW, transport within WDW, preparation of the popped corn, carbon foorprint of the customer travel to WDW to purchase the bucket and popped corn, environmental impact of the wastewater treatment plant to process the byproducts of the popped corn, and the impact on the local water table from the wastewater discharge).
Popcorn buckets are a negative impact on the environment.
A lot of the examples people are providing here are correct and I wish Disney and other large corps would take as many opportunities to excise plastic as something a consumer of theirs can get their hands on as often as possible.
All of the PVC media the resort goes through for tickets and hotel keys: give a small credit if you choose to forgo receiving it through your stay and just keep the data on your phone, or charge a $1 deposit for every piece of media and have guests recycle them for a return like a can or bottle deposit.
Remove all plastic bottle vending from the resort and replace it with canned drinks, and propagate a large amount of dedicated aluminum can deposit bins around the resort. The aluminum can be directly recycled into new cans. I believe at Ball Arena in Denver (since it's Ball) they serve everything in aluminum, even open containers. It is completely within Disney's power to work with them and get that operating at their resorts in a year or 2 if they ever wanted to do it. I find the resort rapid fill mugs heinous, and the souvenir popcorn buckets absurd. I wish they were made from more easily recyclable material or not sold at all.
Liquid beverages are good for paper straws as long as you suck the liquid down in half an hour. Larger bamboo or sugarcane straws should be factored into the cost of delivering a guest a frozen beverage on property.
In stores, paper bags should be the default for purchases. Plastic can be made available on request. Purchases in excess of $x or for certain items get you upgraded to a reusable souvenir tote. The company's cost of producing plastic baubles should ideally have some transparency on how the inevitable waste of unsold product is handled by the company. Plastic wrappings should be limited.
Single use plastics for the sake of normal food and drink consumption stink. They make our lived world a worse place to be in for a convenience we have substitutes for already. Plenty of alternatives have been developed by the developed economy, and they replicate the experience 70-110% of the effectiveness of its antiquated plastic counterpart.
donaldtoo
Well-Known Member
I’m gonna’ go out on a limb here, and say this country has done more to reduce pollution overall, of all kinds, than any other country on the planet in the last 50 years.
Have you ever seen pictures of the air quality from some of our major cities from the late 60’s-early 70’s…?! Everything from factories, to car emissions standards, to water quality, etc., has been improved overall.
Maybe more pressure needs to be put on countries like China, India, Russia, etc., to do their part, instead of the “Great Satan” USA…?!
As a related aside…
We have 2 young granddaughters (2 and 5).
I’m a designer for an architectural firm.
I do both old school sketch design (rough and presentation), and CAD design and block out.
If I’m working on sketch design, my hands need to be thoroughly dry after I wash them in the men’s room, as even the slightest bit of moisture that contacts the sketch paper will make it draw in and wrinkle. As a result, I need to use a couple more paper towels.
If I’m working in CAD, I consciously, only use 2 paper towels, as my hands don’t need to be perfectly dry.
Even if we had air dryers, those use a lot of power to get the heat up, so another trade-off.
As it stands, I’m using soap, water, and paper.
And, obviously, the alternative to all of that is just plain gross, although I’ve seen it done many times over the years.
They must be the true “environmentalists”…???!!!!!
Anyhoo, bottom line, we all need to look before we leap…!!!
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
It’s no different from how we live every aspect of our lives.I guess balloons, like fireworks, fall under the “entertainment clause” - as long as it’s entertainment it’s fine to harm the environment.
We wear seatbelts in our cars yet are willing to take the risk of getting on the road in the first place.
We try to save a few dollars here and there by using coupons at CVS yet spend thousands on our Disney trips.
We throw away our own litter but don’t feel compelled to pick up and bin other people’s. (Perhaps some of us do—I take my hat off to them.)
We punish criminals even though we know that crimes will go on being committed.
We give money to charity but stop short of donating everything we conceivably could.
And so on and so forth.
The “all or nothing” framing is disingenuous, because it contradicts what all of us already practise on a daily basis.
When you're a soulless corporation beholden only to stockholders, there's only one "right reason."
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
It's no different from those signs that have been in hotel bathrooms since at least the '90s telling guests that housekeeping will only wash towels that have been thrown on the floor. The messaging is always "Help us do our bit to save water and resources", whereas we all know that the hotels' main priority is to save money. But if the latter helps achieve the former, so what?
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donaldtoo
Well-Known Member
Not sure if this was mentioned but.................
Paper straws contain toxic ‘forever chemicals’ — could be worse than plastic: study
Is it a strawman argument? A new study found that the so-called “green” utensils are toxic and therefore potentially worse for the environment than their much-vilified plastic counterpa…nypost.com
Plus, plant-based straws are not legally recyclable, as the foodstuffs get buried in their cellular makeup, and can’t simply be washed out.
Quoth the Dreamfinder: "What about science?"
Google "environmental impact of semiconductor manufacturing."
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
I’m not trying to be disingenuous and I’m all for the no plastic straws and no flat plastic lids in DAK - that makes sense.
Basil of Baker Street
Well-Known Member
Final Conclusion: If plastic straws were entertaining, we'd be cool with them.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
You joke, but yeah, kinda. The use that something is put to will of course shape our perception of its importance. Distinctive entertainment offerings are a defining element of the Disney experience, whereas plastic straws are not.
Perfect.
Now everyone, go ask for the lid and go on about your day.
Or proceed with histrionics.
Your choice.
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