As I mentioned in Part 1 of My Disney Adventure, I rushed to reserve transportation and accommodations at the last minute without planning ahead. This is not recommended.

LODGING:

If I had done some research, I might have found a more eco-friendly place to stay. Instead, I went for availability and price, booking a room at the Alamo Inn & Suites on Katella Ave simply because it had the best rates through Hotels.com.

On the plus side, the hotel is located just across the street from Disneyland, so no driving is required to get to the park. As far as I can tell, that is the only environmental plus. And since there are so many other hotels also within walking distance, there's sure to be another with a better eco-philosophy.

Now, here are a few negatives:

• Coffee service in the lobby with Styrofoam cups and plastic stirrers.


• Plastic drinking cups in the room.


• Plastic-lined waste cans in the rooms and no means of recycling.


• Plastic packets of shampoo and lotion in the room. And even though we never opened and used the packets, each day the staff brought us more!


• Old air conditioning units in the walls that had to be run continuously in order to keep the room from becoming an oven.

We tried to gather recyclables (newspapers, tourist info, glass bottles) in a paper bag and find a place to recycle them, but while we were out, the cleaning staff threw out our bag with the rest of the garbage, even though we hadn't put it in the waste can. When I asked the hotel desk clerk if there was a way to recycle or if items from guest waste cans are separated out for recycling, she helpfully answered, "No. We just dump it all out."

After that incident, I resolved to save any recyclables in my backpack and bring them back to Oakland. As it turns out, I could have taken them into Disneyland with me. Disneyland is one of the few businesses in Anaheim with a robust recycling program. In fact, there are bins for paper and bottles throughout the park. I'll talk more about Disneyland's environmental pluses and minuses in my next post.

So how could I have found a more pro-environment hotel beforehand? Fortunately, there's a great site, Environmentally Friendly Hotels.Com, which is an ongoing database of hotels throughout the world rated using a checklist of 33 environmental criteria. Users can browse the site to look for hotel ratings, and they can also post reviews and add listings to the database.

Looking at the Anaheim page, it turns out that the hotels in Disneyland itself are the most eco-friendly. Unfortunately, they are also out of my price range. But I could have used the checklist itself as a guide for what to ask before making a reservation. There are many more hotels in Anaheim than are listed on this site. The site also offers a form that you can print out and take with you to evaluate a property during your stay.

DINING:

Eating healthfully and plastic-free was another challenge. Anaheim, Orange County for that matter, consists of street after street of fast food and chain restaurants. I don't think I've ever seen so many McDonald's restaurants in one place. There is a Farmer's Market in Anaheim, but it only operates on Thursday mornings. We arrived on Friday.

So our first night, Michael and I found a Vons Supermarket (part of the Safeway chain) and purchased produce and bread, which we stored in the small refrigerator in our room. Being a little disoriented from traveling, I left my backpack, which always contains a supply of reused plastic bags, in the hotel, so we were going to need a paper bag. Little did we know, Vons in Anaheim does not have paper grocery bags anymore! Plastic is the only option offered at the checkout counter. Michael was preparing to carry everything out in his shirt, when we spied some thin paper bags near the bakery case, which were meant for bread and bagels. They did the job for us. Next time I'll remember to bring my own bags, I swear!

One ecologically-friendly option is Native Foods, a vegan restaurant, but you have to drive thirteen miles to Costa Mesa to eat there. It was on our way to the beach on Saturday, so we stopped in. Native Foods is located in a shopping complex called The Camp, which is a mix of outdoor stores, natural product retailers, and unique restaurants set among native plant gardens and outdoor gathering places. It's a tiny bit of "green" in Orange County. A very tiny bit.

Up the street from our hotel was a little Mexican restaurant called Tacos Mi Pueblo, where I had some of the best vegetarian burritos of my life. I'm sure the secret ingredient must have been lard. But I felt better eating there than at the chains because the food was authentic and the restaurant small and locally-owned. I did end up with a couple of straws when I wasn't paying attention.

I've found that my main challenge for remaining plastic-free while eating in restaurants is remembering to specify, "no straw." In take-out places where everything is served in disposable containers, it's not hard to remember to specify, "no lid, no straw," and if I'm getting a cold coffee drink, "paper cup." But in a sit-down restaurant where everything on the table is made from durable materials, those ubiquitous straws leap out of nowhere and catch me with my guard down. If the straw is still wrapped in paper, I can send it back. But if the server has kindly unwrapped it for me, I'm screwed.

While I'm pretty happy drinking without a straw, I realize it's sometimes easier to use one. Especially for cold drinks with ice. For those who really want to use a straw, there are plastic-free options:

• Stainless steel drinking straws. If you can carry your own reusable water bottle and cutlery, why not carry your own reusable straws?


• Biodegradable Straws. These are made from cornstarch. If it were me, I'd opt for a reusable product over a disposable one, but biodegradable is better than plastic.


• Paper Straws, the old-fashioned kind. If you want a bit of nostalgia, you can still find paper straws in antique shops for a pretty price.


• Paper drinking straws, the new kind. Aardvark, the company that invented paper drinking straws, is still making them. Now, however, the straws are coated with something that makes them waterproof. I don't know what the coating is, so I'm not recommending them until I find out. I did send an e-mail to the company and will let you know when I hear back.

I guess the main idea I want to stress when it comes to reducing plastic waste while staying in hotels or dining out is to plan ahead. Whether traveling or at home, I find I run into the biggest challenges when I haven't planned what I'll eat and where and haven't left the house prepared. Being tired and hungry makes me much less mindful about what I'm consuming. Procrastination seems to be plastic's best friend.
 

My Disney Adventure, Part 3: Racing & Riding

Thanks to Michael (er... I mean, the polar bears) for filling in for me yesterday. I'm wide awake and ready to write the final installment of my Disney adventure story. But actually, I'm having a hard time coming up with the words. All I really need to do is talk about plastic and environmental issues at Disneyland and during the Disneyland Half Marathon. But every time I start, I'm stopped by a kind of cognitive dissonance. Part of me is repulsed by the whole corporate engine of Disney and the vulgar consumerism it promotes.

But another part, the little kid that loves dolls and stuffed toys and pretty lights and music, is fascinated by the park itself and all the make-believe worlds within it. I and my inner child had such a good time with our friend David, and his inner child, rushing from ride to ride and laughing and screaming our heads off, that it's hard to settle down and get serious about recycling bins and plastic containers and non-toxic paint. Can't we just go on one more ride, please?!

No? Okay. Well, maybe starting with the race will bring me back down to earth. Because that was no magic tea party. It was all sweat and stress. You know, the way grownups have fun without alcohol. Don't be fooled by the smile in the photo. It lasted just until I passed the cameraman. But I'm getting ahead of myself.


THE DISNEYLAND HEALTH & FITNESS EXPO

The day before the run was the Health & Fitness Expo. That's the first place that plastic necessities and temptations get you during any big race weekend. First, you pick up your race number and timing chip.

Race numbers are generally not made from paper, but from DuPont Tyvek, a material made from high-density polyethylene fibers (aka, #2 plastic) bonded together with heat and pressure. That's why they don't rip or soak up sweat. On its web site, DuPont says that Tyvek is recyclable, and in fact, it gives an address where folks can send used Tyvek envelopes back to DuPont to be recycled. The site doesn't mention whether DuPont will take back any other Tyvek product besides envelopes for recycling, so I've left a message with that department and will let you know what I find out. I would have checked earlier, but it didn't occur to me that the race number was plastic until just twenty minutes ago! (I guess I should include my race number in my plastic tally for this week!)

The timing chip is also made of plastic, but it's a loaner. You give it back at the end of the race. Pat asked what I used to attach the timing chip to my shoe, since they give you a little plastic tie thing that gets cut off and thrown away. Actually, I didn't have to use anything but my shoe laces because I bought my own timing chip at the Disney world Marathon in January and am able to use it at any races that use Champion Chips. But he had a good idea for folks who don't own their own. He has a Velcro tie that he reuses so that he doesn't have to waste a new plastic tie each time.

Once you have your number and chip, you head to the goodie table to pick up your shirt and swag bag. Of course, the bag is plastic. And the Disney shirt is a technical tee made from synthetic fibers. (Should I have included my shirt in the tally too?) Running wear is one of the biggest issues facing runners who want to avoid plastic. We've learned that running in natural cotton just doesn't work. Cotton soaks up moisture and leads to chafing, blisters, and overheating. Technical fibers wick moisture and make exercise much more pleasant. So what's an environmentally conscious runner to do?

Honestly, I haven't done a whole lot of research on running wear because up to this point, I haven't needed any new clothes. I've got enough water-wicking tank tops, shorts, and socks to last a good long time. But receiving this tee shirt has started me thinking again. Where would I turn if I needed new clothes?

It seems that Patagonia leads the pack in creating athletic wear from recycled materials. Much of their synthetic clothing is made from recycled plastics (eg. soda bottles) or recycled clothing through their Common Threads Garment Recycling Program. This is great if you're a mountain climber or hiker. But Patagonia doesn't produce much clothing for runners. In fact, a month ago I wrote to Patagonia about their recycled clothing and received the following response from Peter in Patagonia Customer Service:

Thanks for your email. Many of us do use capilene 1 for our running needs here in the sierras. Our goal is to have recycled content in all of our garments in the next 3 years but some products are easier than other. The Long Haul runners are currently 100% recycled polyester but that seems to be the exception at the moment. As we find the opportunity to introduce more recycled content we will. We want the recycled content but also do not want to hurt the performance either by making compromises.

But you'll notice, the URL I've linked to for the Long Haul shorts is not on the Patagonia web site. Those shorts are no longer listed on their site. So it's possible they've been discontinued altogether. Do any of you have advice or information about athletic wear that is made from either recycled polyester/plastic or some sort of miracle water-wicking natural fiber? Please let me know! Once I've gathered enough information, I'll devote an entire post to sustainable athletic wear.

But now, it's time to address that plastic swag bag: I just said no. To the bag and to everything inside it. I had my number, my chip, and my shirt. What could I have possibly needed that was inside that bag? Just because stuff is free doesn't mean we need to take it. Of course, once you leave that last table, you are beset on all sides with temptations in the form of vendors hawking their wares and giving away free stuff, often plastic. My advice is just to get the heck out. It's easy to get caught up in all the excitement, but do we really need anything new?

Little Beth's Interlude of Impatience: Oh my god! The Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror is the scariest and best ride I have ever been on!

And we're back.

RACE DAY

Synthetic tank top, shorts, socks, & shoes; nylon waist pack; plastic band aids; DuPont Tyvek race number; plastic containers of Body Glide and sunscreen; plastic bag in hand carrying EVA flip flops; plastic Timex Ironman watch; plastic iPod in a Neoprene sleeve with plastic headphones. I was a running billboard for the plastics industry, no different from most of the other runners. Except that instead of a plastic water bottle in my waist pack, I carried my stainless steel Klean Kanteen. And except for the race number, all the plastic on me was something I had acquired before starting this plastic project. As things wear out or get used up, I'll have to find alternatives.

Pat asked me another question about the race itself: the cups at the water stations. They were paper. In fact, I've never seen plastic cups at any water station during a race. Can you imagine them rolling around in the streets? And no, it's not good to waste so much paper. But it is good to stay hydrated in 90 degree weather. I filled up my Klean Kanteen as often as possible. But the water itself was poured from large plastic bottles, so what're you gonna do?

I ate a banana before the race began and nothing else until the end. The only food on the route were energy bars wrapped in plastic. If I'd been thinking ahead, I might have stashed some granola in my waiste pack to munch on. But I wasn't. So I wolfed down bananas and oranges and bagels at the finish line and then wandered back to the hotel in a daze.

Not much else to say about plastic during the race, except to reiterate that runners wear and use a lot of plastic, and we really need to find alternatives.

Little Beth's Interlude of Impatience: Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion are just as much fun as I remembered!

Back again.

DISNEYLAND THEME PARKS

I'll get the environmental stuff out of the way so little Beth can gush a bit more about how much fun she had.

Disney has an entire section of their web site called Enviroport, which is the annual environmental report for the Walt Disney Company. The report lists progress in recycling, composting, education, energy conservation, and all kinds of other efforts that the company is making. I'll let you read that on your own if you want. I'm just going to focus on what I actually saw during my visit.

First of all, there are recycle bins throughout the park. According to Disney's web site as well as what I've heard from people who've taken the Disney tour, Disney not only provides separate recycling bins for guests but also has staff that go through the regular garbage and sort out recyclables. My one question about their system is why they seem to have more bins for garbage than for recycling. If there were a recycle bin next to each garbage bin, guests might be more likely to put items in the correct one, creating less work for the sorters.

But although Disney seems to encourage recycling, they also provide quite a bit of plastic waste. In every park restaurant, children's meals are served in what seem to be black plastic microwave trays shaped like Mickey Mouse heads. And there is no place to recycle these. When I was finished eating my meal (which had been served on reusable plates) I asked about a container for my leftovers and was presented with a choice of plastic or Styrofoam. David and I ended up stuffing ourselves with cheesecake instead of waste it or pack it in plastic. Any reasonable person would have done the same under the circumstances. We had too, right?

I didn't bring my Klean Kanteen with me to the park because I was just so hot and couldn't bear the thought of wearing that waist pack for another minute. So I got an iced tea in a paper cup when I first got there and carried that paper cup around with me all day, from 1pm to midnight, refilling it at each water fountain I passed. (Remember the days before plastic bottles when we all drank from public fountains?) I nearly lost it when an employee in Soarin' Over California told me I couldn't take water into the theater with me. So I drank the whole thing down in front of him and walked through with my empty cup.

I thought I'd made it through the whole day without buying anything more than food and throwing away only one paper napkin and my well-used cup. But at the final moments of the park closing, the mad desire to have a souvenir overcame us as it did all the other guests thronging into the Main Street shops to buy buy buy just one last thing! I ended up with a nice big coffee mug that I will use over and over. No, I didn't really need it. But I carried it out of the park sans packaging or bag and was happy that the damage wasn't any worse. Consumerism can be contagious.

So little Beth, was there something else you wanted to say?

Disneyland rides are the best anywhere! I love being dropped down and shot up and flown and whipped and careened. I don't like the lines. Well, sometimes it's fun to watch the people and imagine what they're like in real life. I love getting in to a little car and riding into the dark. Disney rides are like bedtime stories, even the ones with a big splash at the end. And I love escaping from the heat into their cool innards. I love running from ride to ride, hoping to experience them all at least once that day, while knowing that it's impossible. I love staying all day and watching the changes that come over the park as night comes and a million stars twinkle. And then parades and fireworks. And I love going home utterly wrung out and exhausted and hearing in the back of my mind my grandmother's voice saying, "You kids are really gonna sleep good tonight!"

You have to forgive her. Little Beth doesn't know anything about global warming or energy conservation or capitalism. She just knows she had a rockin' good time and is a little sad that Big Beth won't take her there every day.