Green Options

We get a lot of press releases from companies big and small touting their green initiatives.   I usually dismiss the ones from major corporations like Disney and Barbie as greenwashing, but I still pass them on to our writers.  After much prodding and persuading from my online friends, I usually take up the issue myself, as I just can’t help myself.  Disney….it’s your turn.

Disney has just issued the company’s first ever comprehensive corporate responsibility (CR) report.  For a company that was founded in the 1920s and is the largest media and entertainment corporation in the world, this report is a long time overdue!

The long term environmental goals outlined in the report are:

Zero waste

Zero net direct greenhouse gas emissions from fuels

Reduce indirect greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumption

Net positive impact on ecosystems

Minimize water use

Minimize product footprint

Inform, empower and activate positive action for the environment

For the past three years, the Center for Health, Justice and the Environment has been asking Disney to implement a green cleaning policy at their parks, resorts, hotels and restaurants for the health and safety of employees, visitors and the environment.

Some progress is being by Disney, however slow. According to the CHEJ :

“Disney World Parks & Resorts has made progress since CHEJ began its Disney Go Green campaign by introducing some green cleaning products and reviewing current practices. “Disney World absolutely understands green cleaning. Since we began our campaign, they have made progress, but until Disney World shows real leadership and commitment by implementing a written and comprehensive green cleaning policy, their job isn’t done.” said Renée Blanchard, Program Coordinator at CHEJ.”

They’d waited long enough. It was time to act.

Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”

Vacationing with children – it just about killed me. Our sleeping schedule was wacky, the stuff we had to pack and organize, and my daughter got sick and the money. Oh, my goodness the money to go to Disney and Sea World and shucks rent a car and eat for two weeks – I know why we don’t vacation often. My son got to experience flying and he loved climbing the mountain in Arizona, seeing his grandma (the highlight of our trip), eating some great fondue from the Melting Pot, shaking Buzz Light Years hand and riding his first roller coaster. I just hope he remembers it all. My daughter, well she played and played and enjoyed swimming and being with mom and dad. She won’t remember anything but we gave her some experiences to help her development and best of all (besides seeing grandma) she loved Sea World.

Disneyland is reducing emissions by greening some of its transportation and rides with natural gas and biodiesel.

From GreenBiz.com:

The Disneyland Resort is using compressed natural gas to fuel its 16 guest trams at the vast property and powering the Disneyland Railroad steam trains and Mark Twain riverboat with biodiesel derived from used cooking oil harvested throughout the complex.

Some of the park’s trains have been using biodiesel since 2007, and the trams [...]

If a company that markets to children, Disney for example, licenses its name to a toy manufacturer, (like F.A.F.), and the toy maker makes the toy in China, using lead or arsenic or melamine or bromine, should that company be held liable for the toxic effects on children?

I’m disturbed at the flagrant disregard of our children’s health by big business in favor of increasing revenue through any means necessary.

Let me explain.

I read about toxins in 1 out of 3 toys yesterday. So I went to HealthyToys.org to look a little closer at the findings of their toxic toy rankings. At the top of the list of examples of Worst Toys was a Hannah Montana necklace.

Made in (no surprise) China.

The toxin? Lead.

406,510 parts per million (ppm) of lead.

Is my math fuzzy, or doesn’t 400,000 ppm also mean 40%?

The Magical World Of Disney And Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth Are Bringing Teens Across America To The Front Of The Line In The Fight Against Climate Change.

About 2,000 teens have signed on with an organization called Inconvenient Youth to tell their friends, neighborhoods, generation and anyone who will listen that the time to take action is now. Why? The founder of Inconvenient Youth, Mary Doerr, believes the young people “can solve it.”

The feminist, eco-mom’s lament: What to do about princesses!

For the first two years of my daughter’s life, I shielded her from fairy tales and Disney movies about happily ever after and surrounded her with books about animals and nature. Then, she met a little girl that would become her best friend, who also introduced her to the world of Disney Princesses. I was happy my daughter had formed a strong relationship with another child, but there was no returning to our blissful, royalty-free days.

Breaking princess stereotypes

I’ve read several stories that try to break the princess stereotype, such as Cinder Edna and The Paper Bag Princess. Princess Bubble, written by Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb, is the story of a princess who is beautiful, a graduate of Royal University, employed by Royal Heir Line, and is happy with her life. As her other princess friends begin to marry their princes, Princess Bubble is pressured by the queen to find a prince.

But, Bubble did not believe just any prince would bring her “happily ever after.” Yet the fairy tales said she must find HER prince! So she put on her thinking crown and re-read the fairy tales for clues on where to find her prince. She soon realized that unlike the other princesses, She was not trapped in a dungeon…She had no wicked stepsisters or stepmother…She did not know any dwarfs…Nor did she live under the sea. But the most confusing part was…She was already happy!

I’ve done my best to keep the Disney Princess invasion at bay. We have none of the movies or, uh, “books” which are just ads for the movies, and none of the merchandise or apparel or personal care items that feature the Royal Threat. Except. We do have one Disney Princess ball. No, not the kind with music and party dresses. The kind you can kick.

It was an Easter egg hunt prize, and as hard as I try to “lose” it, it keeps getting found. Lately, my preschooler has taken to asking me what each princess is named.

The Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) has challenged Walt Disney World Resort to switch to environmentally friendly, non-toxic cleaning products and practices throughout their operations. According to CHEJ, Disney World avoids using toxic cleaners in their Animal Kingdom but not in their theme parks, hotels or restaurants.

The "Disney Go Green Campaign" sponsored by CHEJ and several Florida activist organizations, kicked off the 2007 Florida Environmental Health

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