Disney to eliminate use of plastic straws by next year, plastic bags are next
Disney is eliminating single-use plastic straws and plastic stirrers at all Disney operated locations around the world by mid-2019.
This is all part of the company’s commitment to environmental stewardship, according to a company news release.
Disney estimates it will reduce 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers annually by taking this action.
But the company is not stopping there:
• Over the next few years all Disney hotels and cruise ships will help further reduce plastics by transitioning to the refillable in-room amenities by 80 percent. This is a signal to say a permanent goodbye to all of those individual shampoo bottles that have been slowly replaced at some resorts with the large pump-action bottles that are mounted in showers.
It will also mean those plastic cups, plates and utensils at some of the Disney Vacation Club resorts may be gone as well.
• Eventually you will be saying so long to all of those Disney plastic shopping bags in the parks and cruise line. Instead, they will be offering the option to purchase reusable bags at a nominal price. How that will work with delivering packages to rooms from the parks or having the items available at the front of the parks will be an issue. Disney has already started this process at its Disney Stores outside of the parks.
• The elimination of polystyrene cups across our the world at all owned and operated businesses is also on the way.
“Eliminating plastic straws and other plastic items are meaningful steps in our long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship,” Bob Chapek, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Consumer Products, said.
“Today’s announcement is more than about reducing single-use plastic waste, it’s also about showing millions of kids and adults from around the world the many ways we can change our daily habits to care for the oceans and protect nature that sustains us all,” Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, said.
Disney produced this graphic to illustrate its convservtion efforts. 
