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Theme parks and the environment

Alsty

Alsty

TS Member
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Shambhala
People are increasingly becoming aware of the effects of climate change and the need to reduce excessive consumption. Businesses are finding ways to reduce their impact on the planet and aiming to become carbon neutral or even carbon negative. Even the Premier League match between Tottenham and Chelsea this month will be carbon-zero.

So I ask, what are theme parks and amusement parks doing about it? They are big consumers of energy in terms of electricity and water usage, plus consume plenty of steel and concrete. At the moment it feels like they're just tinkering around the edges and not being ambitious enough.

A few things Alton Towers are doing well:
  • Post-sorted recycling. All the waste is being sorted and recycled where possible
  • Low energy lights and detectors. Lights are automatically turning off in toilets and common areas when not needed
  • Flushless urinals. Saves signficant amounts of water
  • Using electronic maps and tickets instead of paper
What else could they do?
  • Reduce the amount of single use plastics and waste, e.g. by reducing the number of take-away food and drink outlets and use proper crockery, glasses and cutlery instead
  • Remove the single use shower gels and shampoos from the hotel rooms and replace with refillable soap dispensers. How many of those tiny plastic bottles must get thrown in the bin every year across their hotels?
  • Get rid of bottled water and bring back the water fountains, or provide places where people can refill their own bottles
  • Add charging points for electric vehicles. 10% of new car sales in 2020 were electric, this seems like an obvious omission
Think big!
  • Go completely free of single use-plastics across the entire resort
  • Use greywater or rainwater for flushing toilets
  • Add solar panels to the hotels for heating water or generating electricity
  • Install wind turbines to offset their electricity usage
What things do you think they could do? Have you seen anything at a park that you thought was either great or awful for the environment?
 
Sorry if this is controversial however we all have different opinion and this is mine.
Everything needs to be more environmentally friendly but I don't think it's possible to get everything enjoyable to be environmentally friendly does this mean we should stop doing these things? No. We just need to be more cautious and more aware of what we are doing. Reducing the environmental impact of a theme park is possible but pushing for complete net zero is probably not going to happen anytime soon.

You've made some great points @Alsty and I'm going to go through some of them and give my opinion:
Alsty said:
A few things Alton Towers are doing well:
  • Post-sorted recycling. All the waste is being sorted and recycled where possible
  • Low energy lights and detectors. Lights are automatically turning off in toilets and common areas when not needed
  • Flushless urinals. Saves signficant amounts of water
  • Using electronic maps and tickets instead of paper
Click to expand...
I think all these things are great and should continue although I wouldn't mind the return of some papers maps in a more limited form.

Alsty said:
Reduce the amount of single use plastics and waste, e.g. by reducing the number of take-away food and drink outlets and use proper crockery, glasses and cutlery instead
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The thing is I think that's what people want when going to a theme park and what they expect from the food. I actually think they need to be increasing the amount of food outlets not decreasing them. It would be great if they could find some biodegradable packaging for as much of it as possible and I hope they look at this.
Alsty said:
emove the single use shower gels and shampoos from the hotel rooms and replace with refillable soap dispensers. How many of those tiny plastic bottles must get thrown in the bin every year across their hotels?
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I think this is something lots of hotels started to do before the pandemic however at the moment I don't think anyone wants to be sharing things like that and I think that'll continue for a while. When the time comes however they should 100% use larger bottles or even refillable dispensers on the wall as a few hotels I have been to do now.
Alsty said:
Get rid of bottled water and bring back the water fountains, or provide places where people can refill their own bottles
Click to expand...
Another Covid issue at the moment however eventually re-introducing water fountains with refillable bottles for sale with Alton Towers packaging next to them would be ideal. They should look at vending machines or such like to put these bottles in. Putting them next to the fountain means people haven't got the extra effort of walking to the nearest gift shop and buying one when if your going to do that you probably would just buy a disposable one.
Alsty said:
Add charging points for electric vehicles. 10% of new car sales in 2020 were electric, this seems like an obvious omission
Click to expand...
This needs to be done ASAP! I have seen no ends of people asking Alton Towers on social media if they have parking for electric cars and they really need it. I can't understand why the haven't put any in as it could actually make them profit as I'm sure they'd love to be charging more for it than standard parking for as long as they can get away with. With combustion cars on the way out this should be made a priority with future proofing made so they can expand the amount of electric vehicle charge points easily.
Alsty said:
Go completely free of single use-plastics across the entire resort
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I imagine that's very costly and if they are going to do it then it should be done in a phased manner. I do not want to have to pay more for my ticket because they've stopped using plastic. However if done in a phased manner would be great and would be a good marketing scheme as well.
Edit: haven't finished writing this up yet going to continue in next post apologies I posted this by accident.
 
Alsty said:
  • Add solar panels to the hotels for heating water or generating electricity
  • Install wind turbines to offset their electricity usage
Click to expand...
Both of these should be looked at along with other energy options as Towers seem to struggle with energy as it is. Using these would decrease the reliance on the energy companies and possibly reduce running costs making it a win/win.

In conclusion I think Alton Towers and other theme parks should reduce their environmental impact but only do so being careful not to ruin the experience and to do so in a phased manner for ease.
 
It's already possible to refill water bottles for free, at any of the fizzy drink refill stations, I've done it a few times this year. Possibly not that well advertised? And they do need more of them.

The next step would be to make single-use bottled water unavailable in the shops. People might grumble at first but eventually it will just be second nature to bring a bottle from home. Ultimately I think most people support waste reduction so it's just a question of encouraging people to change their habits.
 
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Disneyland Paris are currently in the process of covering their car parks in solar panel canopies to generate renewable energy for the parks.

Alton Towers (and many other theme parks with large car parks) could absolutely make use of the space and improve their environmental impact with similar schemes.

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I think it is very poor that Alton Tower do not have any electric vehicle charging points. You see more and more electric cars on the roads each day, and it is not unreasonable to assume that people will be travelling longer distances to the park in electric vehicles and will want to charge their vehicle whilst in the park. I would like to think Alton Towers do have plans to install charging points very soon.

Getting rid of single use shower gels etc. in the hotels should be an easy quick fix. Just install permanent refillable bottles in the baths/by the sinks.

Could they also look at various suppliers that they use, and try to use more green companies? For example, instead of stocking generic crap beer could they look at switching to Brewdog who are a carbon negative company and a B-Corp? Kill two birds with one stone there! Better beer and better for the environment.
 
Yep I am surprised they haven't already gone to refillable shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, many much more high end places already have. Its not a covid concern as the small bottles are also handled by the same person (the housekeeper) and covid is an airborne virus, surface transmission is not an issue.

I think they really need to add electric vehicle charging, at least to the hotels but I expect it might be a power grid issue? If there isn't enough power to support more high useage as well as all the rides. But then they don't need to be fast chargers, most people will park up for 10+ hours.
 
jon81uk said:
I think they really need to add electric vehicle charging, at least to the hotels but I expect it might be a power grid issue? If there isn't enough power to support more high useage as well as all the rides. But then they don't need to be fast chargers, most people will park up for 10+ hours.
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I strongly suspect the lack of EV charging is because of a power grid issue. I have no proof, but it is odd they haven’t installed any chargers when other Merlin attractions have (such as Thorpe and Chessington). I also have a memory of them installing some chargers years back (maybe 2013/2014) and them being removed pretty quickly but can’t find any info to confirm that, so I might have imagined it. If they did remove them, again it points to a potential power issue as to why they haven’t sorted it yet.

The other area that Merlin as a whole needs to look at in my view is merchandise. There is so much plastic tat that will most likely be purchased and thrown out in a short period of time which has a big environmental impact.

Take those plastic ride ‘trophies’ they sell with different logos stuck on them. Made in China and shipped to the UK only to live on a kids bedroom shelf for a month before going into landfill.

I know this problem exists across all industry, but theme parks are pretty well known for selling this kind of short term merch and should play their part in tackling the problem.
 
AT86 said:
I know this problem exists across all industry, but theme parks are pretty well known for selling this kind of short term merch and should play their part in tackling the problem.
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I did find it odd how little merchandise Phantasialand had, don't recall seeing any souvenirs I actually wanted. So it is possible to run a park with low levels of merchandise. I think that some classic items like pin badges and magnets are still good, but other things should be better if they have a long-term use, such as mugs or bottles, something with a function that isn't just plastic tat.
 
Totally agree re: plastic tat. There's an independent toy shop near me that only sells environmentally friendly toys (mainly made from wood), so it's completely do-able for a big business like Merlin.
Rob said:
Could they also look at various suppliers that they use, and try to use more green companies? For example, instead of stocking generic crap beer could they look at switching to Brewdog who are a carbon negative company and a B-Corp? Kill two birds with one stone there! Better beer and better for the environment.
Click to expand...
Love this idea!
 
Rob said:
Could they also look at various suppliers that they use, and try to use more green companies? For example, instead of stocking generic crap beer could they look at switching to Brewdog who are a carbon negative company and a B-Corp? Kill two birds with one stone there! Better beer and better for the environment.
Click to expand...

Or even better use a local brewery, they used to stock some of Peakstones bottled beers as they are named after rides.
https://www.peakstonesrock.co.uk/products.html
But they could get them in kegs surely?
Support of a local business seems even better than using a massive company like Brewdog (although yes they aren't as massive as the major brewers).
 
Dragging this thread back up, the latest Merlin accounts for 2022 (more info on my post here) provide some more info on their future plans when it comes to the environment, including some of the ideas mentioned in posts in this thread, mainly covering car parks in solar panels and installing more EV chargers:

Merlin is committed to increasing on-site solar photovoltaic energy generation, and we are actively exploring the opportunity to have a combined solar photovoltaic of over 9MW across four of our resorts at LEGOLAND California, LEGOLAND Windsor, Gardaland and THORPE PARK.
Click to expand...
We know that electric vehicles have a crucial role to play in decarbonising our planet and ownership of electric vehicles is on the rise. We are therefore working with a partner to install electric vehicle chargers across our UK resorts.
Click to expand...

Not sure why those particular parks and not the likes of Alton Towers when it comes to the solar panels, although I am sure they have their reasons, but positive steps nonetheless.
 
AT86 said:
Dragging this thread back up, the latest Merlin accounts for 2022 (more info on my post here) provide some more info on their future plans when it comes to the environment, including some of the ideas mentioned in posts in this thread, mainly covering car parks in solar panels and installing more EV chargers:




Not sure why those particular parks and not the likes of Alton Towers when it comes to the solar panels, although I am sure they have their reasons, but positive steps nonetheless.
Click to expand...

I think they would struggle to get planning permission for sola panels at Towers.
 
Alsty said:
People are increasingly becoming aware of the effects of climate change and the need to reduce excessive consumption. Businesses are finding ways to reduce their impact on the planet and aiming to become carbon neutral or even carbon negative. Even the Premier League match between Tottenham and Chelsea this month will be carbon-zero.

So I ask, what are theme parks and amusement parks doing about it? They are big consumers of energy in terms of electricity and water usage, plus consume plenty of steel and concrete. At the moment it feels like they're just tinkering around the edges and not being ambitious enough.

A few things Alton Towers are doing well:
  • Post-sorted recycling. All the waste is being sorted and recycled where possible
  • Low energy lights and detectors. Lights are automatically turning off in toilets and common areas when not needed
  • Flushless urinals. Saves signficant amounts of water
  • Using electronic maps and tickets instead of paper
What else could they do?
  • Reduce the amount of single use plastics and waste, e.g. by reducing the number of take-away food and drink outlets and use proper crockery, glasses and cutlery instead
  • Remove the single use shower gels and shampoos from the hotel rooms and replace with refillable soap dispensers. How many of those tiny plastic bottles must get thrown in the bin every year across their hotels?
  • Get rid of bottled water and bring back the water fountains, or provide places where people can refill their own bottles
  • Add charging points for electric vehicles. 10% of new car sales in 2020 were electric, this seems like an obvious omission
Think big!
  • Go completely free of single use-plastics across the entire resort
  • Use greywater or rainwater for flushing toilets
  • Add solar panels to the hotels for heating water or generating electricity
  • Install wind turbines to offset their electricity usage https://getmodnow.com/ is not only a place to download Mod APK, but also a community where people can share their passion and connect with each other.
What things do you think they could do? Have you seen anything at a park that you thought was either great or awful for the environment?
Click to expand...
Green Building: Design eco-friendly structures with energy-efficient features.
Energy: Invest in solar, wind, or hydroelectric power.
 
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