For some nonprofits getting the press they need to promote their cause is as simple as picking on a major company, like Disney, and then before you know it, everyone is hearing how Disney is a bad player in the market even though the company they’re picking on may be doing more than the average company (as is the case in this instance (see below)). To be fair, the goal of the nonprofit is usually nationwide change and the only way to affect that is increased awareness. The press won’t run their message without some sort of hook, so the nonprofit is somewhat backed into a corner.
The latest nonprofit to play this game is The Center for Health, Environment and Justice. They’re asking Disney to ditch their ‘toxic’ cleaners and move to products that are more environmentally friendly. Lois Gibbs, who did good work bringing the Love Canal toxic waste scandal to light, wrote Disney asking them to switch products and Disney replied (see letters here). The Center’s own materials admit that Disney is already doing good using many environmentally friendly ‘Green’ products. They just want Disney to do more.
If the Center’s investigation is accurate (and the letter from Disney seem to indicate it is) then there is room for improvement on Disney’s part. I’d love to see some sort of pressure put on the providers of these ‘toxic’ cleaners to offer green alternatives. I’d rather see CHEJ praising Disney for its work so far and going to the government hand in hand asking for better regulations to eliminate toxic cleaners.
As I mentioned above Disney is doing more than the average company in this area. In fact Florida’s Green Hotels program has recognized at least 6 of Disney’s hotels for being green. So is Disney being picked on because they’re the big name, yes. Is Disney already a leader in this area, yes. But is there room for improvement, yes. There always is. (Via)