Green Mickey Mouse: How Disney is (and is not) becoming more sustainable

The working definition of corporate sustainability varies from company to company, but many agree that the term encompasses several concepts: stable economic development, nurturing strong community ties, and environmental stewardship - the latter term is the focus of this article. A company can be a good environmental steward by finding green alternatives to their products or practices (for example, switching from plastic to compostable straws). While many Fortune 500 companies provide some information about their environmental practices and goals, their broad sustainability goals are frequently unclear. There are some rockstars in the bunch though; Fortune companies like Intel, Walmart, and Apple have tackled such issues as water consumption (a major issue for semiconductor manufacturing), reduction in energy use, and electronics recycling. Today, we’ll look at the Walt Disney Company (which currently employs 220,000+ people) as a case study of corporate sustainability — what their green business practices look like, their impact, and why some aspects of their business can never become green.

Walt Disney may seem like an opaque character to young adults today (especially with charges of his racist and anti-Semite beliefs), but he was a conservationist back when it wasn’t trendy. Back in 1956, he was quoted saying that conservation “is a matter that concerns all of us” and that “if we protect our wildlife and preserve our lakes and streams, these things will last us for generations to come.” His company took the message to heart; today, the Disney theme parks and resorts have many green programs in place:

• A strong recycling program: In 2012, Disneyland Resort announced that they were diverting more than half their waste from landfills to recycling plants, and had other great sustainability practices as well - making park utensils/napkins out of 100% recycled materials and sanitizing then donating partially used resort soaps to those in need. Other creative waste management tactics include composting the several thousands tons (annually) worth of manure from their Animal Kingdom.

• Water conservation: Disney consumes a lot of water - water for resorts, theme park rides, drinking water, and sanitation. They have kept potable water consumption constant since 2013 and some resorts are able to recycle nearly all of their water.

• Increased plant-based food options: Animal agriculture is a significant contributor of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and eating vegan is one of the best ways to personally combat this. Late last year, Disney announced the introduction of 400+ plant-based dining options to their parks and resorts (if you’re interested in finding out more on this, check out @vegandisneyworld and @vegandisneyfood on Instagram).

• Energy efficient buildings: In the mid 1990s, Disney World started implementing an Energy Management Program (EMP) in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Their program consisted of several energy-saving projects, including: upgrading hot-water boiler and compressed air system controls, retrofitting older HVAC systems, and switching to energy efficient lighting. Their annual reductions in electricity use is estimated to be 100M kWh!

• Investments in renewable energy: Disney World opened a 5MW solar panel facility in 2016—three years later, they opened another one with 10x the capacity. These PV fields can power two of the four Disney theme parks in Orlando, and the company has solar panels on rooftops in Tokyo’s Disneyland as well.

All these efforts indicate Disney is a paragon of corporate sustainability—it seems like they’ve done (or are in the process of doing) all they can to green their resorts. But there are a couple big problems ingrained in their park operations: for example, three of the four Disney parks in Orlando put on ~2500 firework shows each year (the fourth, Animal Kingdom, abstains from the shows so they won’t scare the animals). Traditional fireworks spew metals, oxidizers, and gunpowder into the air and spread to surrounding communities, and although Disneyland has partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory to create cleaner, nitrogen-based fireworks for their shows, these are a lot more expensive than the standard ones. Unless the parks stopped shows altogether, they really can’t guarantee minimal pollution from the daily shows.

Even more egregious than the fireworks are the greenhouse gas emissions accrued from the millions of road/air miles families travel to visit the park. Disney’s parks intentionally advertise all over the globe (and have parks all over the globe), which causes direct carbon dioxide emissions from car/plane travel. When you consider that Disney World has almost 60 million visitors per year (pre-pandemic), with tens of millions more in Disneyland and the international parks, these emissions add up. More pollution is racked up by the Disney Cruise Line, and again although Disney has made efforts to clean up their act, reduce fossil fuel use and minimize cruise sewage dumping, these may be “Mickey Mouse” gestures in the face of the ongoing climate crisis.

So what is a good path forward for Disney and other companies seeking to reduce their footprint? Do corporate sustainability efforts really make a difference in the grand scheme of saving the world? It’s hard to judge a company like Disney that’s implementing so many great sustainability projects. And companies that seem intrinsically greener—that don’t require air travel to enjoy their products, for example—may have yet larger negative environmental impact. The technology and gadgets that are propelling us into the future, like smartphones and electric vehicles and high-temperature energy storage, all have their own downsides (dangerous mining, child labor and inhumane living conditions in mine cities, pollution that poisons water near mining towns, etc) that are not easily dismissed. So maybe we can cut Disney a little slack. The point is that large companies like Disney need to be at the helm of cleaning up the environment and aligning their actions with their sustainability statements. If that means a no-pollution laser show instead of fireworks, so be it. Companies at their scale have the power to make corporate sustainability be a real asset when fighting climate change. When we as consumers encourage the type of sustainability initiatives Disney has implemented, we alert other large companies what needs to be done.