By Danielle Bautista

How might Disneyland Resort reach a goal of achieving zero waste to landfill by 2030? A friendly competition couldn’t hurt. Launched in 2021 by the resort’s Environmental Integration team, Project Zero is an initiative that challenges teams of cast members to reduce waste in their work areas — the team that reaches zero waste first wins, but it doesn’t stop there!

“The competition doesn’t end when a team reaches the goal,” said Lotus Thai, Environmental Integration manager. “As more teams join the challenge, Project Zero will continue until our entire resort reaches zero waste to landfill.”

This innovative project helped the resort earn a 2022 SEAL Business Sustainability Award. SEAL (honoring Sustainability, Environmental Achievement and Leadership) is an environmental advocacy organization that celebrates the global leaders who are making significant contributions to sustainability and developing initiatives that will have long lasting impacts on the environment.

Through Project Zero, Disneyland Resort invites cast members to join in simple actions to help build a more sustainable future. To encourage cast members to properly reduce, reuse, recycle and dispose of waste, tools such as mixed recycling, food scrap collection and paper shred bins have been implemented along with reusable utensils and helpful resources for building sustainable habits. Over the past year, many cast members have made the commitment to practice sustainability and educate themselves on how to play a part in Project Zero. By simply installing hand dryers in restrooms, one team was able to increase waste diversion in their office building by 25%.

“The magic of Project Zero is helping our cast members think differently about reducing waste,” said Thai. “In order to reach our goal, it’s going to take everyone to participate. That’s one of the things I love about this work so much: we get to inspire others to take action.”