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Disney World Conservation

Walt Disney World® Resort – Growing Green

Cast Member RecyclingThe cast of the Walt Disney World® Resort has committed to minimizing their overall impact on the environment. Many operational changes have placed emphasis on effectively managing resource used through energy conservation and waste minimization, while also focusing on conserving the natural environment through science, education and leadership efforts.

Here is just a few of the many changes in day-to-day operations the Walt Disney World® Resort have implemented all in the name of conservation:

  • Walt Disney World® Resort has deployed more than 1,500 alternatively fueled vehicles-ranging from golf carts to Monorail trains to help lower emissions. They also replaced the entire fleet of Security vehicles with hybrids and other fuel-efficient options. This effort has reduced fuel consumption by an average of 33% per vehicle.
  • Walt Disney World® Resort installed energy-saving fixtures throughout the property. During an update at The Hall of Presidents, Cast Members replaced theatrical lighting with more efficient and longer-lasting LED fixtures. LEDs consuming only 3-to-13 watts can replace 75-to-100-watt incandescent bulbs with equivalent light output. LED fixtures are now used in 98 percent of the signs, decorations and Christmas trees at Walt Disney World Resort. Even Cinderella Castle glows “green” during the holidays with more than 170,000 LED white lights to glisten the Castle, using the equivalent energy of only 12 microwave ovens.
  • All 24 resort hotels at the Walt Disney World® Resort maintain the state’s Green Lodging designation – representing the largest number of Green Lodging-certified hotels in the state.
  • More than 92,000 tons of materials were recycled in 2010 at the Walt Disney World® Resort.
  • The Walt Disney World® Resort uses more than two billion gallons of reclaimed water a year for irrigation of landscape, washing buses and cleaning streets at theme parks and resorts. This amount of water could fill Spaceship Earth roughly 129 times.
  • Disney Harvest reduces food waste by gathering excess prepared food from Walt Disney World® Resort kitchens and distributing it through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. More than 1,000 local children are fed weekly through this program. In 2010, Disney Harvest gave nearly 360,000 pounds of food to the hungry in Central Florida
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park provides some unique forms of “waste.” In 2010, more than 4,680 tons of manure was sent to the compost facility from Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Tri-Circle D Ranch, producing more than 9,000 tons of compost throughout the year.

Unexpected ‘Clean’ Fun at Walt Disney World® Resort & Disneyland® Resort

by Magic Maker® Kyle Froman

PUSHWe all know that Walt Disney World® Resort and Disneyland® Resort are full of good, clean fun for the entire family. However theme park Imagineers have taken the term clean comedy quite literally. In a world where hidden surprises and fun interactions are the norm, there are two characters that are certain to steal the spotlight and put a smile on your face in the parks.

In Magic Kingdom® Park’s Tomorrowland® Area, you will find a clean, interactive character that will leave you and your travel party laughing, yet scratching your head saying ‘how’d they do that’! PUSH, the roaming and talking garbage can, makes his appearance near Mickey’s Star Traders and Tomorrowland Speedway, interacting and joking with guests.

PUSH is an actual, functioning Tomorrowland® Area trash bin, and derived his name from the large word ‘PUSH’ found on the trash can flaps. Go ahead and peek inside PUSH to see for yourself! PUSH is able to see what you see, and hear what you hear all in real time, creating hysterical interactions between guests and himself.

While PUSH started making appearances at Magic Kingdom® Park in 1995, PUSH the Talking Trash Can also makes appearances daily at Disnelyand® Park and Disney California Adventure®!

In Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park you will find a clean comedian of a different sort in Rafiki’s Planet Watch® Land. Pipa, who is the recycling container version of PUSH, greats and interacts with guests, encouraging them to take an interest in recycling. A quick peek inside of Pipa will again reveal he is the real deal!  Pipa’s name is derived from the word container in Swahili!

If you are wondering how PUSH and Pipa operate, well we aren’t going to spoil that bit of magic here! But we would encourage you to take the time to visit PUSH and Pipa, as well as many of the other hidden treasures around Walt Disney World® Resort and Disneyland® Resort! There are countless hidden surprises to uncover and explore!

Has your family had any interactions with PUSH or Pipa? Tell us about them in the comments section below!

Disney’s Vero Beach Resort’s Annual “Tour de Turtles” Event

Tour de TurtlesApproximately 50,000 female sea turtles come to lay their eggs in Florida each year, making its beaches one of the most important nesting areas in the world. In the US, as much as 90 percent of sea turtle nesting occurs in Florida, which serves as a primary nesting site for several species of endangered and threatened sea turtles. Among the oldest creatures on earth, sea turtles have remained essentially unchanged for 110 million years.

Disney’s Vero Beach Resort proudly hosts a program annually that was created by the Sea Turtle Conservancy, “Tour de Turtles.” It follows the marathon migration of 15 sea turtles representing four different species from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds. The ultimate goal of “Tour de Turtles” is to inspire people to care about sea turtle conservation.

The turtles acts as an ambassador to raise awareness about a specific threat to sea turtles. One potential threat is light pollution on the beach. Since sea turtle hatchlings rely on moonlight to find their way to the ocean, many become disoriented and drawn off-course by artificial light sources. Another threat is of entanglement. Turtles can become tangled in trash and nets and drown.

Researchers from Disney’s Animal Programs and the Sea Turtle Conservancy track the sea turtles using satellite telemetry as they travel from their nesting beach to various feeding grounds. Using this technology, scientists learn about sea turtles’ habits at sea and the different migratory patterns of each species. This knowledge helps researchers, conservationists and governing agencies make more informed decisions about sea turtle conservation actions and policies. Guests at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park can find out about this research and follow the tracks of the turtles when they visit the Wildlife Tracking Center in Rafiki’s Planet Watch.

Enjoy this video of the 2011 Tour de Turtles:

 

Disney Resorts – Saving Lives One Bar of Soap at a Time

Clean The World LogoEach year, millions of children worldwide die from hygiene-related illnesses because the essential items for proper hand washing are unobtainable to them. It is estimated that every 10 seconds a child dies from these types of illnesses – all preventable by just a single bar of soap!

An Orlando-based nonprofit organization, The Clean the World® Foundation, aims to stop these needless deaths from occurring by recycling used soap and shampoo and distributing them around the world to those living in poverty. With Walt Disney World® Resort’s 24 resort hotels located in central Florida, they play a key role in helping Clean the World® reach their goal. But it doesn’t end there – resort hotels at Disneyland® Resort in California as well as Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Hawai’i, also recycle hygiene products with Clean the World®.

“Disney’s commitment to environmental sustainability permeates throughout the entire company. They are literally turning trash into treasure through Clean the World®, and that benefits the global community by creating a cleaner world” said Shawn Seipler, executive director of Clean the World®.

From Jan. – Sep. of 2010, Disney cast members collected more than 25,000 pounds of partially-used soaps, shampoos, conditioners and lotions from the nearly 28,000 hotel rooms on Walt Disney World® Resort property! This collection not only allows the cast members and guests to clean the world, but it repurposes something that was headed to the landfill.

After the discarded amenities are sanitized, Clean the World® distributes the items to people in need as part of their ongoing efforts to improve health and personal hygiene in impoverished areas worldwide. Some of these products are even donated to shelters and various organizations throughout the United States.

So next time you use that bar of soap in your resort room, smile knowing that it will soon be saving lives!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park Celebrates ‘bEARTHday’

Earth Day ActivitiesA celebration is in order at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park on April 22nd. Not only is it Earth Day, but the park will celebrate its 14th birthday!

Since 1998, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park has told its guests a story about conservation each and every day of its operation. During this years Party for the Planet celebration on Earth Day, guests will find out what they can do to make their backyards wildlife-friendly as well as discover other ways to conserve wildlife and protect nature.

Special Earth Day activities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park include:

  • In Asia at Maharajah Jungle Trek, families can play a supermarket game and learn how their purchases can make a big difference for wildlife and wild places.
  • At Pangani Forest Exploration Trail in Africa, children can observe and identify chimpanzee tracks and clues left behind along trails as they move through the forest.
  • At Rafiki’s Planet Watch, guests will discover fun ways to spend time in nature with their families as well as face painters and caricature artists. Families can also visit the Chimpanzee Research Station and participate in a variety of activities based on real conservation work.

Even if you don’t get to experience one of the special Earth Day activities, be sure to check out the sand sculpture outside of the park entrance celebrating the release of “Chimpanzee’, Disneynature’s newest True Life Adventure film!

Happy Earth Day!

The Disney Destinations are committed to giving families opportunities to discover their connection with the natural world and to helping those who areDisney Conservation Efforts working to make our home a better place for the next generation.  Discover just a few of Disney conservation efforts:

  • Disney Cruise Line® eliminates more than 1,200 tons of metal, plastic and paper from traditional waste streams and recycles it each year.
  • When Disney California Adventure® Park was preparing for World of Color, instead of draining the 16 million gallons into the ocean, the Cast Members worked with the county to store the water in underground reservoirs.  The same water was then used to refill the lagoon.
  • More than 43,000 tons of waste was diverted from landfills through recycling and donations at the Disneyland® Resort — enough to nearly fill Space Mountain.
  • All Disney Cruise Line® ships have a 100 percent non-toxic hull coating which reduces surface resistance in open water.
  • Eight turtles injured by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spent their rehabilitation at the Walt Disney World® Resort under the care of Disney animal experts.  The Disney animal care team were ready to help in the Panhandle as needed and rehabilitation facilities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® park and at Epcot’s The Seas with Nemo & Friends are available for treating turtles and birds impacted by the spill.
  • Disney Friends for Change has distributed more than $2 million to environmental charities worldwide, via the Disney Friends for Change grants programs and Youth Service Awards. Through Disney Friends for Change, kids learn practical ways to help the environment, get their friends involved, track their collective impact on the environment and have the opportunity to help Disney decide how $1 million in contributions to various environmental causes will be made over the course of a year.
  • Water conservation efforts at the Walt Disney World® Resort have enabled aquifer withdrawals to remain at levels from 23 years ago, even though the resort has grown by two parks, two water parks and 20 resort hotels since that time.
  • The Disney Dream™ features technology to determine accurate energy management which maximizes the heating, ventilation and cooling systems based on real-time requirements. As part of this system, guest staterooms self-adjust when unoccupied and return to the desired temperature upon a guests’ return.
  • The trains at Disneyland® Resort are powered by biodiesel that is made from cooking oils recycled from the park’s restaurants.
  • Thousands of lights decorate the castles at the Disney parks, but because they are mostly energy-efficient LED light bulbs, the 170,000 LED lights on one castle use only the amount of electricity it takes to power 12 microwave ovens
  • Two rhinos born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom®, were shipped in specially designed crates from Florida to Africa.  They joined four others at the Ziwa Sanctuary to help start families that could re-establish a rhino population that has been extinct in Uganda since 1972.
  • Disney Cruise Line® Cast and crew members have donated more than 4,500 hours in the port communities the Disney ships calls home, including giving back to local nonprofits, hosting annual walks to raise funds and awareness for conservation programs and leading shore cleanups, that to date have removed 31,000 pounds of trash and debris from beaches and fragile waterways.
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