Bottom Line Savings

The Walt Disney Company balances environmental stewardship with business development to produce significant efficiencies and financial savings. In fact, business units have implemented a series of environmental programs that have collectively produced savings of more than $31 million.

One such example is the Disneyland Resort in California, which continues to stand out as a model of how environmental action can positively impact the bottom line. In 2003, the Resort became certified by the California Department of Conservation (DOC) as an official state recycling "Collection Center." In addition to generating income through the sale of recyclables, this certification has also enabled the Resort to receive processing and redemption payments from the DOC. Today, nearly $500,000 in revenue is generated by this program each year.

Similarly, Touchstone Television has realized significant financial savings through the evolution of a soundstage set reuse program. This year, a 135,000-square-foot warehouse was opened to facilitate easy access to thousands of previously used set walls, fixtures, cabinets, facades, and props that television productions can rent for use in their own programs rather than construct new sets from scratch. Partial and whole sets are accepted into the program and old materials are donated for reuse to local schools and colleges. The program has produced consistent annual revenue of $500,000 and reduced disposal fees by more than $110,000.

Setting Measurable Goals

In 2006, the Walt Disney World Resort established a comprehensive plan to reduce annual energy consumption by five percent property-wide. Called "Strive for Five," this program focused on reducing energy utilized by electricity, natural gas, and chilled and hot water utilities.

To begin, building tune-ups were conducted throughout the Resort to adjust temperature set points and time schedules for heating and air-conditioning. Additionally, Cast Members were asked to turn lights off in convention spaces, backstage areas, and offices outside of standard operating hours. Audit were also enhanced and new standards for energy use were developed by individual lines of business such as hotels and theme parks. For example, the use of kitchen equipment was monitored more closely during off-peak hours and Cast Members conducted audits at night to identify additional energy-saving opportunities.

Education served as a key component of this program and Cast Members were asked to contribute through individual actions. In response, members of Environmental Circles across property partnered to collect and promote best practices, and Utility Report Cards were issued to consumers monthly so they could monitor actual usage. Internal communications were also disseminated on a regular basis to share results, and recognition programs were established by several resorts to acknowledge successes.

Energy-Saving Technologies

Regular maintenance evaluations at Disney's Boardwalk Resort indicated that the primary boilers used for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) were underutilized and the gas boilers used to heat domestic water were due for replacement. In response, engineers introduced a heat exchanger in lieu of a new water heater. As a result, extra heat generated by the HVAC boiler became available to heat the domestic water. The new system delivered an initial 13 percent reduction in natural gas usage, so six additional heat exchangers were implemented to provide hot water in Guest rooms and kitchens. Expanding upon this successful program, engineers at Disney's Pop Century Resort are now evaluating how to reclaim waste heat from air-conditioning chillers for use in heating water.

Recent advances in lighting technology have introduced very efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) with a decreased power demand as compared to traditional incandescent lighting. At Pleasure Island, new LED cluster lights installed in outdoor signage will save 18,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month. The lights also last longer, thereby reducing maintenance costs. Inside Pleasure Island, stage lights were also replaced with LED fixtures that use one-tenth of the power consumed by traditional incandescent fixtures. On surrounding streets within property, LED technology is being used in traffic lights, creating the same light output with 20 percent less power consumption. Other applications of this new technology include solar-powered menu signs utilized at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival this year.

Results

During the first year of Strive for Five, energy consumption was reduced by more than three percent across property, a value that equated to more than $1.8 million and 194,000 million British Thermal Units (BTUs). Energy conservation will continue to be a priority in 2007 and plans are in place to ensure sustainability of these new initiatives.

Green Purchasing

The Walt Disney Company introduced a new partnership with OfficeMax ® this year to provide office supplies to businesses in the U.S. and in Canada. Green purchasing was identified as a fundamental aspect of this partnership and subsequently, Disney instituted a goal to acquire 25 percent of all office supplies with recycled content. To reach this goal, Corporate Sourcing & Procurement established environmentally friendly options as the defaults for new orders placed by employees. Included in this application was copy paper that contained at least 30 percent recycled content. Potential savings from this single effort are expected to reach nearly $400,000 annually. Additionally, the procurement of remanufactured toner cartridges is expected to save more than $500,000 each year. ESPN has taken advantage of these opportunities and currently leads the Company with a 23 percent achievement.

In a separate initiative, Enterprise IT Client Services established a policy to lease duplex-capable printers for Disney offices company-wide. On average, an office with 100 employees could save more than $3,000 in paper purchases and $77,000 in printer usage costs annually by utilizing the double-sided copying features.

Paper Reduction Initiatives

Paper reduction initiatives and their associated financial benefits continue to accrue at The Walt Disney Company as a result of on-going advances in disseminating information electronically. As an example, printed copies of the Disney Catalog were replaced by an enhanced online shopping experience at www.DisneyShopping.com, which saved 26 million printed copies of the publication and $8.7 million in paper and printing costs. Additional efforts implemented within the Company included an increased use of imaging systems to receive and store documents, prevention of unwanted mail, adoption of PC tablets, and employee education.

Collectively, these initiatives are saving an estimated 1.8 billion sheets of paper, $10 million in avoided paper purchasing and printing costs, and 250,000 trees each year. Paper waste minimization also helps to reduce water consumption, labor, real estate space, and greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. EPA honored the Company for many of these initiatives with a 2006 WasteWise Paper Reduction Gold Achievement Award.

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