he world has gone green - Disney World that is.
The Walt Disney Company and Busch Entertainment Corp. went "green" and now Universal Studios announced its theme parks are going to go green as well.
It's about time.
Universal is the last of the theme park conglomerates to make the move.
But hey, it's always better to be late than never show. It's fantastic to see that this national "Green Week" campaign is paying off.
Not only is it raising awareness to the general population, but it also got a corporation like Universal to change some of its ways. Universal hasn't been completely unfriendly to the environment.
These theme parks haul in millions - probably billions - of dollars entertaining people so the least they could do is spend that money in a positive way, which they are currently doing or aiming to do.
The companies are really just responding to their demographic so it seems to be a move solely for their own corporate preservation. Regardless, this selfish action can turn out to be very selfless. Not only will they be saving their corporation money, but making a dent in the environment as well.
They must be credited for their previous efforts to help the environment, after all these aren't the only things they have done to make an impact. We shouldn't neglect the past efforts that were made not only by these corporations but by regular everyday people.
Yes, environmental efforts did exist before Al Gore came along with his movie.
For example, remember Nickelodeon's Big Help?
We don't mean to belittle Gore's efforts at all: He has made quite the contribution. He went on a mission and people paid attention, more than ever, to the environment and the importance of going green.
The world is going green. Along with it, tourists are starting to care about eco-friendliness and these companies are aware of it.
Ady Milman, theme-park business professor of Rosen College of Hospitality Management told the Orlando Sentinel, that tourists are expressing their concern for the environment by picking destinations that are "green."
The companies have been active before.
Universal has been recycling for years but now it will increase its efforts. It will also increase its energy-conservation efforts, use better cleaning products, explore solar energy and more.
Many of the efforts aren't new; there is just an urgency to increase the activities because of recent increase of awareness.
One of Universal's competitors, Busch Entertainment Corp., which owns both Sea World and Busch Gardens, has been a staunch supporter of wildlife conservation. Both theme parks revolve around wildlife conservation.
The company has funded research in the Arctic on female polar bear denning habits and general research on the beluga whale.
They've funded research on gorillas in Congo and a behaviorial study of hyenas and lions in Kenya.
These are just a few examples and there are many more.
Disney, on the other hand, has not only dedicated their theme park, Animal Kingdom, to conservation, but has made changes in their company to support the green way.
The Disney park insists on their Web site that they have always been concerned with the environment and displays a video of Walt Disney speaking about the importance of wildlife conservation.
They've even coined a new term for their awareness issues, "environmentality."
Disney has had multiple events about environmental issues. Earth Day is actively celebrated at all of the theme parks. They also have a month dedicated to it and in that month is Disney's Environmentality Awareness Day. Disney also works on waste minimization, water conservation, climate protection and nature conservation.
The company even holds an event called the Disney Commuter Transportation Fair, which educates and encourages employees to take public transportation or carpool to work for the sake of air quality.
Their efforts are noteworthy. It's refreshing to hear about these large companies caring, whether it is for themselves or a genuine care for the environment. To put it quite plainly, at least it is being done. These efforts will be helping out because of the amount of people they cater to each year.
We as a society give our money to these companies and expect a good time. In return not only are are we getting what we paid for, which is fun and memories, but we will be getting much, much more.
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