From measuring carbon emissions and capping attendance to going solar and recycling, we highlight some sustainability trends for the year ahead as the attractions industry works towards a greener future.
Museums, theme parks, zoos and aquariums need to show the eco-anxious public what they are doing to tackle climate change. In response, operators and industry leaders are busy putting in place new plans and policies to become more environmentally sustainable.
Our top sustainability trends to watch
According to research from Force of Nature, a youth non-profit organisation, 70 percent of young people are worried about climate change. 56 percent believe that humanity is doomed. Here, we take a look at some of the biggest green initiatives and sustainability trends. This includes electric transport, energy-efficient NFTs and urban nature projects.
1. Measuring Scope 3 carbon emissions
Many businesses, including Disney, are now starting to look at their Scope 3 emissions. This is one of the biggest sustainability trends to watch this year. It means that suppliers need to report their own carbon footprint.
“We’ve now started to turn our focus to Scope 3 emissions,” said Walt Disney Imagineering’s design studio executive, Emily Dow. Speaking at greenloop 22, she added:
“This is an area where we have a real opportunity to address supply chain emissions around all of our diverse lines of business.”
Scope 1 emissions are the greenhouse gas emissions that a company makes directly. For example, those it makes while running its boilers and vehicles. Meanwhile, Scope 2 emissions are made indirectly. For example, the electricity or energy purchased by a company to heat its building. Scope 3 includes all the emissions associated with the company up and down its supply chain.
Scope 3 emissions
PortAventura, the world’s first carbon neutral theme park, has committed to science based target setting. The resort, already home to a zero-emission hotel, is looking at all of its emissions to include suppliers and visitors. PortAventura will work with its suppliers to measure and reduce the carbon in purchased goods and services. It will also review visitor travel.
“Through the years, we have been able to reduce emissions from Scope 1 and 2 by 76 percent. Here, quick wins are possible because Scope 2 is really linked to the source of your electricity,” said Choni Fernandez Veciana, director of central services and sustainability at PortAventura. “Scope 1 and 2 have never been a problem.”
“I think that now it’s time to change our mentality as operators,” she added. “We are going to rank our vendors. We are also going to reward the ones who have this commitment with emissions reduction.”
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao also hopped on this sustainability trend, recently becoming the first museum in Spain to measure the carbon footprint of its direct and indirect emissions. The institution has worked out the carbon footprint of organising exhibitions, as well as artwork shipping and courier trips. It is hiring artwork crates rather than making new ones and sharing the transport of artworks with other museums.
It is also limiting the construction of new walls through reuse and sharing display elements with local museums.
Greener travel
This sustainability trend can also be seen in the UK. Blenheim Palace aims to become carbon neutral across Scopes 1 to 3 by 2027, and carbon negative by 2050.
“We are clearly working very hard to attract people to emit a lot of carbon to come to us,” said Dominic Hare, CEO of Blenheim Palace. “So we felt from day one we would have to take responsibility for their Scope 3 visitor travel if we are to be carbon balanced.”
Blenheim Palace has also teamed up with the Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI) and Oxford Biology to test a robot dog monitoring the impact of climate change. “As we face up to the challenges of climate change it is essential that we protect the estate’s unique natural heritage,” said David Green, Blenheim’s head of innovation.
2. Limiting attendance
Ghibli Park, the first-ever theme park dedicated to Studio Ghibli, is capping daily attendance within each of its themed lands. This sustainability trend both improves the visitor experience and protects the park and its environment. Each land requires its own ticket and attendance is limited (via Aichi Prefecture and SoraNews24).
Ghibli Park is an environmentally-friendly theme park and will not cut down any trees to make room for future attractions. Meanwhile, previous building work enhanced and preserved any natural areas. There are plenty of natural, untouched spaces, much like the settings of many Studio Ghibli films.
The Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, formerly known as the Red Sea Project, also plans to limit visitor numbers. In an interview with Arab News, Najwah Hamzeh, Red Sea Global’s senior smart destinations director, said:
“We are limiting the number of tourists to the destination to keep it sustainable and to enhance the environment.” Hamzeh said the team will ensure that “100 years from now, we are going to experience exactly the same natural treasures in the Red Sea”. Due to complete in 2030, the Red Sea will be the world’s most sustainable luxury tourist destination.
Sustainability trends: protecting the environment
Efteling, the fairytale theme park in the Netherlands, will either have to limit its annual attendance to 5 million guests or reduce its nitrogen emissions, Omroep Brabant reported earlier this year.
The province of North Brabant was ordered by a local court to enforce these measures in January 2022. It was told in 2016 that Efteling could host a maximum of 5 million annual visitors. Any more than that would damage the Loonse en Drunense Duinen National Park. However, the park saw over 5 million visitors in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Efteling later revealed plans to be climate neutral by 2030 and climate positive by 2032. This means the attraction will remove more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it emits. Fons Jurgens, Efteling’s CEO, said the park has taken “several steps, large and small, to benefit the environment”.
3. Recycling initiatives
Innovative recycling solutions are among our top sustainability trends for 2023.
Disneyland Paris has launched a series of recycling initiatives this year as part of its ongoing commitment to reducing waste, protecting resources and supporting the local economy. The resort was selling a collection of products using the recycled tarp that covered the Sleeping Beauty Castle for its 30th-anniversary renovation project. It also created a replica of its iconic castle using 300kg of recycled glass for a waste recycling campaign.
As for brands, the Lego Group has created a prototype Lego brick made from recycled plastic. “Even though it will be a while before they will be able to play with bricks made from recycled plastic, we want to let kids know we’re working on it and bring them along on the journey with us,” said Tim Brooks, VP of environmental responsibility at the Lego Group.
Mattel has also launched a collection called Barbie Loves the Ocean. This is its first fashion doll line made from recycled ocean-bound plastic. The brand aims to use 100 percent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all of its products and packaging by 2030.
Reverse vending machines
Coca-Cola and Merlin Entertainments are encouraging this sustainability trend by using reverse vending machines and offering VIP experiences in exchange for empty plastic bottles. Since the launch of the initiative with Coca-Cola in 2018, Merlin has collected and recycled more than 100,000 plastic bottles through 22 reverse vending machines at the company’s attractions.
“We are continuing to progress against our sustainability ambitions, including removing unnecessary packaging and plastic on all our branded merchandise,” said Dare Ilori, group head of sustainability at Merlin. “In our Sea Life attractions, we banned all plastic straws and retail plastic bags at the end of 2018. In our UK resort theme parks we are proud to now be operating with zero waste to landfill.”
Holle Bolle Gijs
Of course, rewards for picking up litter are nothing new. Efteling’s Holle Bolle Gijs has been thanking visitors for tidying up since the 1950s.
Hubbub has been using psychology to encourage litter bin use. The Ballot Bin has been shown to reduce littering by 46% by encouraging smokers to vote – “Who’s the best footballer in the world? Ronaldo or Messi?” as they dispose of cigarette butts.
4. Solar power
As part of its trend-setting sustainability programme, Efteling has brought in a carport system with 12,000 solar panels. Through the system, the park will be able to produce 20 percent of its annual energy usage itself, approximately 4,320,000 kilowatt hours (kWh). This is equal to the average electricity consumption of around 1,750 households.
“The creation of the carport system with solar panels is our biggest step so far in terms of sustainability, and we are far from finished,” said Jurgens.
Elsewhere, Spain’s Guggenheim is reducing its energy consumption with solar panels. Between 2015 and 2021, the museum also replaced all light fixtures with LED technology. Other steps taken by the museum include efficient water management, reducing materials and packaging, using recyclable materials, and minimising hazardous waste.
Solar power is a big sustainability trend. PortAventura World will also begin work on one of Europe’s largest solar plants with an installed capacity of 7.5 MWp. It will supply electricity to the whole resort, preventing 4,000 tonnes of CO2 every year from being emitted. This is equivalent to the amount of CO2 that would be absorbed by 930,000 trees.
Sustainability trends: carbon neutral destinations
In Singapore, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) are installing solar panels at 18 locations across the island in an attempt to become a carbon neutral destination by 2030. “Transitioning to renewable energy is an important means to combat climate change and forms an integral part of RWS’s decarbonisation strategy,” said RWS CEO Tan Hee Teck.
Combined, the solar panels will cover an area of around 2.5 hectares, with a solar capacity of 3.094 MWp that will produce 3,871,500 kWh of clean energy each year. This will result in a reduction of 1,643 tCO2 per year, which is equal to the carbon generated by 60,000 hotel room nights. SDC is also looking at other sources of renewable energy, including tidal energy and waste-to-energy generators.
“Solar is one of the most viable renewable sources of energy for Sentosa and Singapore,” said Thien Kwee Eng, CEO of SDC.
SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is currently under construction on Yas Island and will open next year. It is putting in place rooftop solar systems to supply clean energy across the new marine life theme park.
Marc Swanson, SeaWorld CEO, said the company is “committed to creating a more sustainable future”. He added: “This agreement reflects SeaWorld Abu Dhabi’s alignment with our efforts to adopt efficient and innovative solutions across our parks.”
Solar power
Two new solar facilities will power up to 40 percent of Walt Disney World’s annual energy needs, These will come online near the resort in 2023. The destination already has two solar arrays, including one in the shape of Mickey Mouse. Disney World’s available solar energy resources will more than double with the new solar arrays. Disney has also added solar arrays at Castaway Cay and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Another firm that sets trends when it comes to sustainability, Disneyland Paris has started operating the first section of its solar canopy plant, located in the park’s main parking lot.
The plant will produce 36 GWh per year by 2023. This is equal to the annual energy consumption of a city with 17,400 inhabitants. When complete, it will cover 49 acres and use 82,000 solar panels, making it one of the largest solar canopy plans in Europe.
5. Green NFTs
Attractions have been raising funds through non-fungible token (NFT) sales in recent years. However, some forms of blockchain are incredibly bad for the environment. The environmental impact of NFTs made the news in 2022, with the British Museum called out for the carbon cost of its NFT project. In April 2022, the Art Newspaper reported that the museum may have emitted enough carbon to power an average home in the US for at least 57 years since launching its NFT project in September 2021.
Last year, researchers at Cambridge University estimated Bitcoin’s annual energy usage to be more than that of Argentina. Combined, Ethereum and Bitcoin consumed almost as much energy per annum as the UK. This was before Ethereum transitioned to a proof-of-stake algorithm in late 2022. That brought down the network’s energy consumption by 99.9 percent immediately. Still, the use of NFTs remains a potential environmental and PR risk.
The carbon cost of NFTs
Considering this, green NFTs will likely be a top sustainability trend in the near future. Australia Zoo has already launched an ethical NFT project to protect wildlife and wild places. It was created on Algorand, touted as the world’s greenest blockchain. “This green chain and new technology allows us a new avenue to continue to fight for the protection of our wildlife and wild places,” said Australia Zoo’s Robert Irwin.
While exploring the latest sustainability trends, greenloop 22 explored how to create a green NFT. Alistair Hudson is the former director of the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery. He spoke about the ‘Ancient of Days’ NFT created with Vastari Labs. This trailblazing project used Tezos, an energy-efficient proof of stake blockchain.
“Already the world of NFTs has surpassed the traditional art market,” Hudson told blooloop. “As a museum with a social purpose, I wanted our take on this to be ethical.”
6. Sustainable dining
From plant-based meat substitutes to ditching single-use plastics, the trend for sustainable eating and shopping is one to watch. Disney has already eliminated single-use plastic straws and stirrers. It has also partnered with Impossible to introduce plant-based products at its US theme parks.
Now, Disneyland Paris has selected Beyond Meat as its official plant-based meat partner across the whole resort.
“With sustainability as a core priority, we are delighted to partner with Beyond Meat, [which] is pushing the boundaries in the reinvention of food. We’re excited to be offering our guests new food choices and help contribute to a better world,” said Laure Albouy, VP of business strategy and integration at Disneyland Paris.
Sustainability trends: eliminating single-use plastics
The US government is phasing out single-use plastic products and packaging on public lands including national parks by next year in a bid to reduce plastic pollution.
Visitors will soon see more compostable, biodegradable and recycled materials in restaurants and gift shops. In an order, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said the Department of the Interior “has an obligation to play a leading role in reducing the impact of plastic waste on our ecosystems and our climate”.
More than 300 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year. And at least 14 million tonnes of this ends up in the ocean. This causes “severe injuries and death” to marine species. Haaland’s order said less than 10 percent of plastics ever produced have been recycled. She added:
“As the steward of the nation’s public lands, including national parks and national wildlife refuges, and as the agency responsible for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats, we are uniquely positioned to do better for our Earth.”
7. Electric transport
Electric vehicles (EVs) have been gaining popularity across the world for some time now. Parks such as PortAventura World and Efteling are responding to this sustainability trend by developing facilities for EV charging. Last year, the latter opened the largest charging park for electric cars in Benelux.
PortAventura World has developed one of the largest electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs at a European resort. It now has 150 charging points at seven locations across the destination, including three car parks and four hotels. These are free to employees and visitors. New Spanish legislation comes into effect in January 2023. This requires public car parks to have a minimum of one parking space with EV charging for every 40 standard spaces.
Woods Bagot, an architecture studio founded in Australia, has imagined how EV charging stations could become visitor destinations with digital screens showing movies, food trucks and urban parks.
“Because it can take up to an hour or more to fully charge an electric vehicle, the charging places should fulfil a broader set of demands than just the charge itself,” said Woods Bagot (via Dezeen). “What does the driver do while he or she is waiting?”
EV at Universal
Universal Studios Hollywood is in the process of converting all 21 trams in the Studio Tour fleet from diesel-hydraulic engines to electric. The move will reduce carbon emissions and improve the visitor experience by limiting noise associated with the old engines.
“This is just one of many steps we are taking to transform our business in line with Comcast NBCUniversal’s carbon neutral goal, all while pioneering first-class attractions for our guests,” said Scott Strobl, executive VP and general manager at Universal Studios Hollywood.
8. Urban nature
Our penultimate sustainability trend for 2023 involves encouraging biodiversity in urban areas. London’s Natural History Museum has started work on the redevelopment of its gardens as part of the Urban Nature Project. The museum is transforming its grounds into an accessible green space and biodiversity hub in the middle of London. The five-acre site is due to open to the public in summer 2023.
Tom McCarter is head of the museum’s gardens. He said the project will “allow visitors to explore the museum in a new way, reconnecting them with the outdoors and giving them the tools to safeguard nature in towns and cities, so that people and planet can thrive”.
“People are now less connected to nature than at any time in our human existence,” added Drew Bennellick, head of land and nature policy at the National Lottery Heritage Fund. “Creating places in the midst of our cities where people can see, understand and enjoy nature are critical to helping nature’s recovery.”
Sustainability trends & green attractions
In Cornwall, the Eden Project‘s team of apprentices have created a colourful network of ‘buzz stops’. These are designed to bring wildlife to bus stops and tackle habitat loss. The organisation has installed a series of vertical planters and large troughs filled with bee-friendly plants in areas throughout the county.
“As landscapes become increasingly fragmented it becomes harder for pollinators to navigate their way to sources of pollen and nectar,” said Juliet Rose, Eden’s community programmes development manager. “Buzz stops are a bit like transit cafes providing sustenance as insects move through our communities and help to link up dispersed populations.”
The Eden Project is an innovator in the development of green attractions. Amid the burgeoning trend for sustainability, a series of new Eden Projects are rising in countries across the globe, from South America to Australia. These focus on the individual challenges that affect each location, such as water, food, biodiversity or soil.
One of Eden’s latest projects is to increase biodiversity within the Canary Wharf. The group will create a ‘green spine’ through the centre of the financial district. This will include parks, gardens, waterside access, performance spaces, new bridges, boardwalks and floating pontoons.
“There is not a moment to waste,” said David Harland, chief executive of Eden Project International. “Our urbanising world cannot become sustainable until cities work for nature as well as people,” added Shobi Khan, CEO of the Canary Wharf Group.
Coexistence with other species
Elsewhere, French artist and environmentalist Marlene Huissoud has collaborated with a sacred species of endangered bees for an experimental living exhibition at Mexico’s SFER IK Museion. Mayan culture considers the stingless bees sacred. Here, they are serving as the co-creators of the work, building out the sculpture and populating the exhibition space.
Founded in 2019, SFER IK is an interdisciplinary arts centre. It is located at Azulik Uh May, an eco-resort and cultural hub within the Mayan jungle. The museum was built to integrate the nature that surrounds it. For instance, the design weaves in native trees, vines and natural wildlife. “It is our responsibility to begin rethinking our coexistence with other species,” said Huissoud.
9. Climate action beyond your footprint
When it comes to sustainability trends, we’re seeing many visitor attractions reach out beyond their own walls with their climate action. We highlighted two projects making a big impact at greenloop 22.
Sustainable palm oil
Chester Zoo has created the ‘Sustainable Palm Oil Communities’ project, which saw Chester become the world’s first Sustainable Palm City. Cat Barton, Field Conservation Manager at Chester Zoo, explained:
“What we really wanted to do when we found out about this issue was to encourage a lot more use of sustainable palm oil. We knew that boycotting palm oil wasn’t going to be a solution … So we wanted to increase demand for sustainable palm oil one business at a time. We started with ourselves and then we moved on to others in the community.”
The Zoo is currently working with communities across the UK and is hoping to take the programme worldwide. To find out how to get involved click here.
BlueTech incubator
New England Aquarium has co-founded the BlueSwell incubator programme. The $1 million a year programme supports innovative BlueTech start-up businesses. John W. Mandelman, Vice President and Chief Scientist at New England Aquarium, set out his vision for the future of the programme:
“I think this is an exciting time for aquariums, for zoos, for other cultural organizations to think about working closely with corporates. We feel like innovation is a major key to the future of sustainability in the ocean and making sure that it stays vital and vibrant. By serving as that conservation voice, that’s the way that we feel we can have the most impact per unit effort in our space.”
Sustainability trends at greenloop 23
Join us at greenloop 23 – online 25 – 26 April – to find out how the world’s leading attractions are taking climate action. We have inspirational speakers and informative sessions on the latest sustainability trends. There will also be opportunities to network with like-minded individuals.
