From the Disney Parks Blog and written by: Dr. Mark Penning
It may sound like science fiction, but a simple glass bottle is helping us grow beautiful plants and flowers like the ones you can see at the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival – and today, we’ve got a look at how it’s done!
Tricky, right? Not really. At Walt Disney World, we’re always looking for innovative ideas that help the planet and in 2022, we installed a glass pulverizer to help turn recycled glass into a sand-like material. Today that material is used across Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, including the horse trails! However, we didn’t stop there. With the ability to pulverize up to 2,000 pounds of glass in an hour, our recycling efforts are expanding, and more cast members are getting involved.
Our innovative pulverizer pilot program is now taking us around the “world” to EPCOT!
Recycled glass from select locations around EPCOT is making its way to the pulverizer at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and literally covering new ground. As a substitute for coquina material, pulverized glass is beginning to spread across greenhouse floors to act as a pass-through for multiple daily waterings for our plants. This ensures a functioning ecosystem for plants to flourish.
But how did we get here and how are we growing this pilot program so quickly? It’s simple. By telling stories just like this one, cast members across the resort began discovering opportunities to expand the pilot program with new ways the glass could be used, and the rest is history!
Cast members are excited for the future of this sustainability effort and are optimistic that pulverized glass can be incorporated into additional uses in the future. So, the next time you recycle glass at Walt Disney World, don’t forget about the endless possibilities it holds and how recycling efforts make its way back into our parks for guests around the world to enjoy!
We’re always dreaming of the possibilities of tomorrow at Disney, and we apply that same approach when we think about the environment. While this program is still in its pilot phase, it’s exciting to picture what we’ve been able to do since 2022 and what we continue dreaming up every day!
To read more about Disney’s sustainability efforts, visit www.DisneyConnect.com and www.DisneyPlanetPossible.com.
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