TurtleTrek Spawns New Initiative At SeaWorld

Did you know that plastic bags floating in the sea are frequently mistaken by turtles for jellyfish? This is a dangerous thing indeed for sea turtles in the wild, because jellyfish is one of their favourite snacks. Plastic bags are part of the 1.4 billion tons of trash that enter the oceans annually. In order to lessen that number, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens are doing their part in a massive initiative to remove plastic shopping bags from their parks.

Within the year, plastic shopping bags will no longer be offered at any of the 10 SeaWorld parks, including Busch Gardens. In conjunction with the opening of the TurtleTrek attraction today at SeaWorld Orlando, plastic bags have been taken out of circulation in that park. Instead, paper bags constructed of 100% recycled paper are being offered, or guests may choose to purchase a reusable bag.

SeaWorld is the largest theme park operator to exert such a massive effort to reduce the amount of trash going into the oceans, and they hope to be a role model for other theme parks and large businesses. While keeping the turtles a little safer from the perils of man is one huge benefit, seeing such a huge business take these steps is inspiring for the rest of us to take similar steps in our own lives.