Theme parks such as Disneyland or Universal Studios are extremely popular destinations that attract millions of people annually. These entertainment destinations are also unfortunately sites of environmental pollution, where their operations require a large amount of energy that releases carbon emissions into the air. Furthermore, the carbon emissions released by tourists who visit these theme parks are not minute. For example, it was estimated that 10 million tonnes of carbon emissions are released annually solely by tourists travelling from Europe to Disneyland in Florida, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of the 83 million people living in Ethiopia (Pearce, 2009). This comparison illustrates the colossal amount of pollution released just for tourists to travel to their destination, not considering the energy required to run the theme park itself, which brings into question – how sustainable are theme parks? 

Upon evaluation, I have considered the fact that Disneyland may not be the sole factor for individuals to travel to Florida, and thus it  cannot be seen as the direct cause and effect for the large amounts of carbon emission. However, it should still be acknowledged that Disneyland is in fact a popular tourist destination, one which has heavy influence on tourist activities. Furthermore, Disneyland has also eliminated the use of single-use plastics across the globe, which amounts to a reduction of around 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers annually (Penning, 2018). This illustrates the steps taken by theme park operators to further reduce environmental pollution through reducing the consumption of plastic waste. From this perspective, we can observe how corporations like Disney are making efforts in reducing waste produced.

One question that still remains unanswered would be – are these initiatives enough to combat climate change?

 

References

Pearce, F. (2009) ‘Greenwash: Disney’s green intentions are pure fantasy’, The Guardian, 19 March.

Penning, M. (2019) ‘Disney Expands Environmental Commitment By Reducing Plastic Waste’, Disney Parks . Available at: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/07/disney-expands-environmental-commitment-by-reducing-plastic-waste/ (accessed January 2022).

 

 

With the awareness that film production directly and indirectly releases a large amount of carbon emissions into the environment, there have been calls for the film industry to reduce these release of pollutants. These initiatives come in the form of engaging eco-consultants, restructuring waste management and providing greener sustainable alternatives for film operations.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, a film production company, has implemented a green initiative that targets zero waste and cutting its carbon emissions. For example, the initiative recommends that all shows contract with a green caterer, eliminate disposable water (‘Sony Pictures: A Greener World’, n.d.). Furthermore, the studio is advancing their digital workflows such that the alternative to shoot digitally has avoided 20 million feet of film annually, which equivocates to 294 tons of carbon emissions (‘Sony Pictures: A Greener World’, n.d.). As such, this highlights how large film production companies can come up with various green initiatives to combat the existing challenges that derive from the environmental impacts of film production.

Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that there are limitations to these initiatives that might compromise the quality of the films produced. For one, shooting on a digital camera cannot capture the same depth that a film camera can achieve, which may impact the cinematography of the film. As such, transitioning into greener alternatives for film production may not be smooth-sailing due to the conflicting interests between sustainability and quality. This highlights just one of the many challenges that film companies might have to transition into greener production.

References

‘Sony Pictures: A Greener World’ (n.d.), Sony Pictures. Available at: https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/pdfs/SonyPicturesAGreenerWorld.pdf?misc=link.

 

At first glance, watching a movie on the big screen or on your computer does not seem to have any significant environmental consequence. Being an avid Netflix user and movie goer myself, I have watched at least hundreds of movies and TV show episodes . However, behind the screen, there is an unsustainable environmental reality that plagues the film industry – one which the viewers hardly take notice of.

Looking just at the carbon emission released by the production of the film itself, research has shown that blockbuster films with budgets over 70 million dollars produce an average of 2840 tonnes of CO2 per production, which is equivalent to the amount absorbed by 3,700 acres of forest annually (Hoad, 2020). Considering the numerous number of big budget films produced every year, the statistic above illustrates only an iota of the proportion of carbon emissions produced by the film industry. Additionally, the carbon emissions only serve to measure the air pollution released and does not take into consideration other environmental repercussions such as aquatic or marine pollution caused by chemical dumping during production.

Deep diving into specific films, the producers of the film Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales have been fined for unlawful dumping during their film production, where paint and chemical residues were seen to have overflowed into a creek behind the studio set (Laughlin, 2015). These chemical residues consist of substances such as oil, acetone, paint and resin. With an exposure to these chemicals, marine life in the waters are disrupted as the chemicals are toxicants to the animals living in the waters. A snowball effect may be induced as there may be an accumulation of chemicals digested by larger marine animals due to the ecological food chain (Saadoun, 2015). This illustrates an example of how film production can have severe negative pollutive impacts on the environment and how our oblivious demand for movies can have a ripple of negative environmental effects during production.

 

References