The Walt Disney Company has always been a master of innovation. From the first feature-length animated movie to the first theme park made for families to enjoy together, they’ve been ahead of the curve for almost 100 years. So it should be no surprise that they’re doing all sorts of things in their theme parks to make their carbon footprint smaller and inventing and using alternative methods of energy to run their parks. Here are some examples:
What They Do With Their Food Waste
I would suspect that most places, at best, save the edible stuff for homeless shelters and the inedible stuff for farms. Not at Walt Disney World – they do something much better! Look at what they do with their food waste!
Reducing Use Of Plastic
Plastic is a modern marvel but it’s also the “gift” that keeps on giving…besides taking centuries to degrade, it can also be a hazard to animals. Because of this, Disney is committed to cutting down significantly on the plastics they use.
Gathering & Using Solar Power
Walt Disney World has to power 4 theme parks, 4 golf courses, 2 miniature golf courses, 2 water parks,a shopping/dining district with dozens upon dozens of storefront, over 30 resorts and hotels that contain over 36,000 rooms, AND all their backstage areas that house the support systems Disney needs to do what it does on a daily basis. Click here to learn what Walt Disney World’s electric bill would be if they paid their bill like you and I did.
Of course, Disney doesn’t pay nearly that much, and they’ll be paying even less now since they just opened a 270 acre solar farm that can power 2 of their theme parks alone!
And WDW isn’t the only Disney park that uses solar power. check this out:
Mosquito Control
Mosquitoes are a big problem in Central Florida and the last thing WDW wants is for their guests to get eaten up alive and spend their vacations with dozens of itchy welts. So they’ve come up with environmentally friendly ways to deal with the nasty bloodsuckers.
Using Renewable Diesel Fuel For Their Buses
WDW uses a lot of buses to bring their guests from one place to another and in 2015, they began using R50, which is a new and cleaner fuel that’s a blend of 50% renewable diesel fuel made from used cooking oil and non-consumable food waste and 50 percent diesel fuel.
Motion Sensor Thermostats
The thermostats in WDW hotels are the electronic kinds that only kick in when they sense motion in the room. Since most people are not in their rooms during the day, Disney saves energy by not running the air conditioning (or, on occasion, the heat…yes, it can get chilly here in Central Florida) when no one is in the room.
(Unfortunately, that also means the rooms can become uncomfortably hot in the middle of the night. There are some hacks for this, which can be found in this post – the Disney hotels are #10 on the list. Just make sure to switch the thermostat back!)
But Wait, There’s More!
Walt Disney World has an entire environmental fact sheet that includes many other ways that they’re working to save the environment. Here’s the PDF you can download from their website that tells you all about it.
For a theme park that’s so huge, the changes they’ve made over the years are very important. Of course, some of their conservation, such as not giving out plastic covers on drinks anymore, and motion sensors on their thermostats also saves them money (after all, if airlines have figured out so many small ways to make their plane lighter so they use less fuel, can you imagine how much money Disney saves in plastic cup covers every year???) But their impact on the environment is, of course, much more important and I’m glad they’re doing the right things to do their part.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
