Jan
Of rollercoasters and waterless urinals
Josh Cobden
An article on the excellent Environmental Leader website, recommended recently by our new Washington, DC, colleague, Frank Walter, caught my eye last week. The article reports research from PGAV Destination Consulting that shows that nearly 75 per cent of 18-34 year olds are more likely to visit attractions that are pursuing environmentally friendly practices.
While I’m a tad older than this demographic range 
, having just returned from a family trip to Southern California I can attest to the efforts some attractions are making. Food stands at the San Diego Zoo hand out biodegradable, starch-based take-out cutlery, and the men’s restrooms were equipped with waterless urinals with signs telling you how much water they save. (But what a drag to have one of the park’s ubiquitous double-decker buses roar up and idle next to you, spewing exhaust fumes, while you wait in line for the Panda Exhibit.)
Given PGAV’s research, I thought I would see how the San Diego Zoo is marketing their green efforts on the first stop for most would-be visitors: their website. After searching and searching I finally found a few bullet points in the corporate section about some environmental achievements.
Why not put those front-and-center? Same to you, Disneyland – I couldn’t find anything on the Happiest Place on Earth’s website about sustainability, though the FAQ section has room to address whether or not the park welcomes indecent clothing (no), exposed lewd tattoos (nada), costumes on people older than nine (nope), weapons or “bullet-belts” (definitely no).
A quick spin around the websites of various local tourist attractions closer to home wasn’t much better:
- Canada’s Wonderland: zip.
- CN Tower: zero.
- Casa Loma: nothing.
- Eaton Centre: Green Initiatives button takes you to generic claims by property owner Cadillac Fairview, but nothing specific about the Eaton Centre.
- Toronto Zoo: Finally! Button on the home page takes you to impressive list of facts and figures on the Zoo’s green initiatives (bravo!).
In today’s economy, entertainment attractions (hello, discretionary item) need to give people very good reasons to part with big admission fees. It seems that, these days, along with big roller coasters and exotic animals, people also want to know what’s being done for the earth.
Great post; lots of food for thought. My family visited Busch Gardens last year and I too was struck by the wastefulness. The amount of garbage that popular tourist destinations produce is impressive, and (at that time, anyway) didn’t see anything anywhere about green initiatives, let alone biodegradable materials or simple recycling containers. It would seem obvious that a place such as a zoo (or “animal park” as they often describe themselves as now) that markets nature and conservation would also be environmentally responsible. Credit to the Toronto Zoo for understanding that.
Intereseting post, Josh. Makes me think of Vegas. You check into the hotel and there’s a nice little note in the bathroom with instructions for if you want to reuse your towel and save water (Yeah! Being green is always good, especially in a desert.) Then you walk outside and the Bellagio is shooting 17,000 gallons of water at a time 250 feet up in the air. Ah, Vegas.
Cheers to the Toronto Zoo, though. The National Zoo here in DC is also very focused on conservation. They even have “green tips” on their Website. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/GreenTeam/
Thanks for the note about the bullet-belts at Disney. Good to know.
Waterless urinals at the San Diego Zoo? Hopefully they don’t smell like the lion’s den.
All kidding aside – great piece Josh. Environmentally friendly practices are indeed a draw for our family.
Was someone listening? Not one week after my post about the absence of eco-marketing in tourist attractions I came across an ad in Sports Illustrated for a ski resort called Jiminy Peak (www.jiminypeak.com) in New England. “Feel the Power” says the headline. Cliche? Not when the ad depicts a guy cruising down a slope…WITH A GIANT WIND TURBINE IN THE BACKGROUND! The body copy reads: “A total of 44 trails. 3 terrain parks. Night skiing until 10pm. Slope-side lodging. A wind turbine to power the mountain.” A quick tuck over to the Jiminy Peak website and you find comprehensive info about “Green Jiminy” including FAQ about the wind turbine, electrical energy conservation programs and sustainable environmental initiatives. Go Jiminy! (Now, if they could only offer gold standard offsets for a day on the slopes….)