Zero waste in the parks?

[janae7]

Not sure anyone else here is a zero waster, but I've been thinking about how I could come as close as possible in the park. For the uninitiated, basically the goal is to reduce the amount of trash you produce as much as possible. Now clearly it IS possible if one decided to not eat anything in the park, but I try to balance ZW with experiences and frankly I am all about the Disney food experience haha, so I'm trying to do as much as I can while still getting the full Disney magic.

When I was at Epcot (extremely briefly) I tried to have someone refill my water bottle and they said they weren't allowed to take it behind the counter, so chances of getting people to put drinks and things in a reusable cup seem slim. I think the biggest places I can reduce are looking for restaurants with real plates, bringing my own tote for souvies, bringing my own straw/spork/napkin, refilling water bottle at the filtered stands.

Main questions: does anyone remember how often there are recycling bins? I feel like the parks are pretty A+ about this but my memory is foggy. Also, anyone have any clue what the policy is on cast members putting drinks into personal cups?

And if anyone here happens to be ZW and has attempted this or has brilliant ideas, I'd love to hear them!

 

[FourOrchards]

We always take extra water bottles. There are quite a few places/drinking fountains you can fill them back up once they are empty. Almost every entrance of the restrooms has them. There are recycling bins next to every garbage can at both parks as well.

I don't believe you can have them fill drinks from any of the food service counters. I'm sure they do have food safely guidelines that would prevent it.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Alas, unlike Universal, which sorts ALL its trash after the fact, to collect all the recyclables, and even has solar panels, and pushes green.

Disney does do a good job, but guests do have to use the "correct" bin to recycle. There are plenty, but still less than the regular cans/bins.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

You can refill your water bottle at RDZ, Mint Julep Bar (?), First Aid (both parks), etc. If we are eating at a TS restaurant, we'll use the water in our glasses to fill our bottle before we leave. We bought mens cotton handkerchiefs (fairly large ones, bandannas work, too) to use as napkins and tissues. They get washed as soon as we get back home.

 

[DaveNinja]

Water bottles can also be refilled at Village Haus. The drinking water tap is not behind a counter

 

[figment_jii]

As with Epcot, the CMs usually won't take your water bottle and fill it from a tap behind the counter either, but there are public access filtered water stations throughout the park. I've gotten water at Rancho del Zocalo (it's in the seating area/outdoor courtyard), at the Mint Julep Bar (to the right of the ordering windows, often hidden by guests waiting in line to order yummies), and at the Galactic Grill (to the left of the ordering windows). I'll have to go look for the one at Pinocchio's!

Flo's V-8 Cafe, the Plaza Inn, and French Market all use really plates and flatware.

 

[BriannaRuth]

I know they have a lot of different bins because when I was there a couple of weeks ago I remember being frequently confused about which container my things needed to go in. I was constantly worrying that I might put something in the wrong container and ruin the whole batch!

 

[bumbershoot]

Alas, unlike Universal, which sorts ALL its trash after the fact, to collect all the recyclables, and even has solar panels, and pushes green.

Disney does do a good job, but guests do have to use the "correct" bin to recycle. There are plenty, but still less than the regular cans/bins.

Are you sure about that? Not the Universal part, but the Disney part? I have a friend who has done tours at both Disney parks in the US and the tours have ALL said that they sort everything behind the scenes, no matter where the item it put.

 

[merfsko]

I stumbled across this blog post a few weeks ago when looking into the exact same thing! Nothing ground-breaking, but a good resource!

https://zerowasteteacher.com/2016/0...-on-earth-green-a-zero-waste-disneyland-trip/

 

[ParkHopper1]

I was constantly worrying that I might put something in the wrong container and ruin the whole batch!

No worries on that...most recycling and composting programs that use bulk bins can take up to a 20% "cross contamination" before they consider the batch unusable. They go though another level of sorting usually before processing.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Don't know if it's true or not, but I've been told by multiple CM's that everything gets sorted behind the scenes and it doesn't matter if recyclables are placed in garbage bins rather than recycling bins. I've also been told that the only reason they installed recycling bins a few years ago was because CM's were constantly having to tell park visitors that even without them, their waste would be recycled.

 

[janae7]

Thanks for all the input everyone! If anyone's interested I did a mini trip report about my endeavors http://janaeisms.tumblr.com/post/151477135470/zwdisney

 

[smartlabelprint]

I think some meals you can get no chips or apples. Ala carte. At least at the corn dog places.

 

[casagray]

Thanks for following up, I was curious how it went!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thanks for all the input everyone! If anyone's interested I did a mini trip report about my endeavors http://janaeisms.tumblr.com/post/151477135470/zwdisney

Thanks for the update. It was helpful and encouraging.

 

[Malcon10t]

Disneyland Resort is very recycle conscience. I've been back by their recycling "plant". I think we were told they recycle 99.95% (it was some really amazing number.) They even recycle stuff like the hay wraps for the horses. They have people who go thru the trash and sort it out. It was very interesting to learn how green they are.

 

[tdhickey]

Disneyland behind the 8 ball when it comes to guest recycling, composting and overall packaging waste. They are good internally, but the parks have trash and bottle/can recycling and that's it.

 

[agamble]

Disneyland behind the 8 ball when it comes to guest recycling, composting and overall packaging waste. They are good internally, but the parks have trash and bottle/can recycling and that's it.

But I thought they sorted even that trash behind the scenes. Didn't someone say the bottle/can recycling is really just to make guests happy that they sort the garbage regardless of which receptacle it is thrown in.

On another note, yuck! Praises to those CM who have to sort through all the nasty food trash at the parks each day. I hope they don't make them sort through the garbage from the bathrooms.

 

[grnflash]

Thanks for all the input everyone! If anyone's interested I did a mini trip report about my endeavors http://janaeisms.tumblr.com/post/151477135470/zwdisney

Thanks for your tr, really enjoyed it! Btw, you nailed the tone (practical not preachy)

 

[tdhickey]

But I thought they sorted even that trash behind the scenes. Didn't someone say the bottle/can recycling is really just to make guests happy that they sort the garbage regardless of which receptacle it is thrown in.

On another note, yuck! Praises to those CM who have to sort through all the nasty food trash at the parks each day. I hope they don't make them sort through the garbage from the bathrooms.

No they don't sort your garbage, but I'm sure they do sort the recycling into appropriate categories, remove garbage. I'd love to see them implement composting, use compostable cutlery and if possible eliminate straws (or use paper based ones).