Are you are a frequent visitor to Walt Disney World, an annual pass holder or a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) member and have a personal goal to reduce waste while at Disney? Then this blog is for you . . . AND it's complete with cheesy Disney song references.

As I have mentioned in **this Kuel Life interview**, ever since I heard Disney was creating a “Star Wars Land”, visiting it has been on my bucket list. Here I am at Galaxy’s Edge in my favorite BB8 shirt. I loved it!

No Worries for Newbies - HAKUNA MATATA (Lion King)

This blog is NOT intended for the first time Disney World guest. Unless you are a frequent visitor, just go and have fun. Your goal should be to stay on budget and keep the family meltdowns to a minimum. Seriously, just embrace that HAKUNA MATATA attitude. Don't worry about the waste involved so much that it adds stress to your Disney experience. You've invested too much to let that happen. If you are going to Disney for the first time, STOP reading right here.

The Situation - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Beauty and the Beast)

I had no other option than to take the plastic wine glasses but I did have my handy Greenish Neighbor Corkcicle cup to refill with water.

My most recent Disney visit included a fabulous time at the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. The BEAUTY of the food and wine festival is that you get these lovely little samples of foods and beverages from around the globe in the World Showcase at Epcot. But the BEAST you face is that every serving of wine is in a new plastic cup, some of the food is served on plastic and the utensils offered are single-use plastic.

I have seen estimates of 35,000 people per day visiting Epcot so you can imagine the amount of single use trash generated on a daily basis. There is no composting bin availability that I was able to locate and the service items are not recyclable so unless Disney does some sorting magic behind the scenes, this will all go in the landfill.

Bring Your Own - THE BARE NECESSITIES (The Jungle Book)

Water fountains at the parks are sometimes surprisingly hard to find and I was disappointed that refill stations were super scarce. This one is great though in the new Galaxy's Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Disney World has tight security but guests are able to bring in a purse, bag or backpack with the essentials you will need to limit your plastic use impact. THE BARE NECESSITIES that will help you accomplish this are:

a reusable water bottle or cup,
a set of utensils (I bring stainless steel with the exception of my knife. It’s wooden so it can go through security) and
a small reusable bag for souvenirs.

Since I'm the only one using my utensils, I simply wipe them off and reuse. When I stop in a restroom, I give them a quick wash with soap and keep going. I also carry a tiny nylon bag to avoid taking a single use plastic bag at shops.

BE PREPARED (Lion King)

These handy utensil packs were available at the festival market. Sadly, the bin was still full even on the final days of the festival.

For this most recent Disney trip, we purchased annual passes and a meal plan which we used to sample international food on three occasions during our stay. I estimate that by bringing my own utensils I saved about 8 disposable plastic utensils each day so a total of around 24 utensils. This is great for me but the rest of my family does not carry their own reusable items around as they prefer to travel light as they enjoy the thrill rides. Now that my kids are older and we no longer use strollers, I refuse to be the pack mule for the family. Seriously, carrying around four water bottles and other gear gets kind of heavy.

So even though I am usually ready to BE PREPARED for anything, there are times to shake it off when you have no choice but to toss a cup or wrapper in a Disney trash can.

The Epcot Food and Wine Festival passport is a fun way to track your progress eating and drinking your way around the world. In this photo is my utensil roll from Don’t Waste Durham. I carry this EVERYWHERE with me!

Composting - THE CIRCLE OF LIFE (Lion King)

My family LOVES the Food and Wine Festival and Disney does get a lot of things right. It is, after all, created by some of the most talented “imagineers” in the world. But, it feels like it's time that the Disney folks re-imagine the Food and Wine Festival and other counter service restaurants with some practical solutions for single-use plastic waste reduction and food waste composting. How nice it would be to have a solution that creates less plastic waste and allows park goers to participate in the CIRCLE OF LIFE by composting food and other waste.

I am sure that there are folks at Disney who are attempting to address this challenging waste management problem but until that day, making thoughtful, right-sized food purchases can help to reduce individual food waste. Perhaps you could choose to share that giant Simba pretzel sold in Disney’s Animal Kingdom instead of trying to tackle it alone.

Committed to Reducing Waste? Don't LET IT GO (Frozen)

Signage suggests that festival goers to consider using their plastic fork more than once. Since I forgot to bring my own fork and water cup the first day, I took what I needed and just reused it all day long.

While reducing waste at Disney isn't easy because of the sheer numbers of people to feed, the company is making an effort by offering only paper straws and we found reusable utensil packs being sold at the festival market (though I didn't see one person using them). The plastic utensils at the Food and Wine Festival were made from 30% renewable content and many of the serving plates appeared to be compostable (but again, no place to compost them).

There was also a sign on the utensil dispensers suggesting that guests use them more than once. If you don't want to LET IT GO and do want to learn more, Disney has other environmental efforts that you can read about here.

Explore a WHOLE NEW WORLD (Aladdin)

So go and explore a WHOLE NEW WORLD of culinary treasures at Disney World and try to take some small steps toward a less wasteful visit. The Disney experience is always top notch and with a little planning and effort, you can create your own Disney magic by reducing your waste.

Here are more photos for your enjoyment!