The Earth Month celebration continues as Walt Disney World is always looking for innovative ways to help the planet. Now a simple glass bottle is helping grow beautiful plants and flowers.
In 2022, Disney installed a glass pulverizer to help turn recycled glass into a sand-like material. Now that material is used on the horse trails at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. However, Disney didn’t stop there. With the ability to pulverize up to 2,000 pounds of glass in an hour, Disney’s recycling efforts are expanding, and more cast members are getting involved.
Disney’s innovative pulverizer pilot program is now taking them 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.
How did Disney get here and how are they 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!
Disney is always dreaming of the possibilities of tomorrow. They continue to apply that same approach when they think about the environment. While this program is still in its pilot phase, it’s exciting to picture what they’ve been able to do since 2022 and what they continue dreaming up every day!
To read more about Disney’s sustainability efforts, visit disneyconnect.com and disneyplanetpossible.com.
What do you think about this innovative technology? Let us know in the comments!
