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Disneyland Resort was recognized today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with the 2014 Food Recovery Challenge award for its zero waste efforts, and the highest percent increase in food recovery of any theme park in the nation. "Disneyland is a model for food recovery efforts," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "Disney has the potential to educate millions of people who visit the resort on zero waste, while doing its part to fight climate change and create a better environment for Southern California residents."

The World Wildlife Fund will help protect 100,000 acres of former logging forest in Indonesia's Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, in partnership with Frankfurt Zoological Society, The Orangutan Project, and local communities. The World Wildlife Fund has established a commercial company to generate revenue within the project area to help finance forest protection initiatives.

Power company Duke Energy plans to build a solar panel farm across 20 acres in Orlando, Florida, near Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park in the shape of Mickey Mouse. 

Duke Energy will build a 5 MW solar array near Disney World and Epcot in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head to provide the amusement parks with renewable electricity.

At Disney, caring for our planet is at the core of who we are. From the characters and settings of our films, to our parks and wildlife, the beauty of nature has always inspired the many worlds of Disney. We believe that it is our responsibility to preserve this beauty for kids and families by using our resources wisely, and encouraging others to do the same.

San Diego Gas & Electric expects its new water-wise landscaping project at Century Park, its Kearny Mesa headquarters, to save the utility more than 4 million gallons of water a year, a 40 percent campus reduction.

Local farmers are stepping up to help conserve Kenya's upland forests, which serve as critical watersheds for the rest of the country. After years of corrupt government administration, control of the forests is being handed over to community forest associations that give farmers incentive to use forest resources responsibly. "People who used to be poachers and illegal loggers are now defending the forests," said Simon Gitau, warden of Mount Kenya National Park. Yale Environment 360 (2/26)

Kenya-based Wildlife Works Carbon employs "wildlife rangers" on about 500,000 acres in and around two national parks to protect elephants from poachers. The company sells carbon credits to raise the funds needed to pay the rangers. The cash raised also goes to compensate landowners for leaving land and resources in their natural condition, and to fund educational and community projects. It's the country's pilot project as part of its belonging to the United Nations' Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation program.

PepsiCo is committed to working to increase the U.S. beverage recycling rate, with a goal of reaching 50 percent by 2018. Such a shift would capture billions of containers that otherwise would end up in landfill, streets, parks and waterways. PepsiCo and The Nature Conservancy forged a new initiative to "Recycle for Nature." By recycling any plastic bottle or aluminum can, consumers are directly helping support The Nature Conservancy's efforts to save and restore 1 billion gallons of water over the next five years.

Danish city officials announced the completion of what they claim to be the world's first neighborhood adapted for climate change in Copenhagen: the St. Kjeld neighborhood has been retrofitted with mini-parks, rooftop water collection, and raised sidewalks to direct excess water from extreme weather events and rising sea levels towards the harbor.

Goldman Sachs has committed to investing $150 billion in clean energy technology by 2025. The bank will focus its spending on wind and solar projects as well as energy-efficiency measures. Kyung-Ah Park, Goldman's head of environmental markets, said more renewable projects would be installed this year than traditional systems, even though the economy is still in the early stages of shifting to clean energy

MGM Resorts is making water conservation a top priority in developing its Park promenade in Las Vegas -- even though there's a relative paucity of water-conservation technologies compared with the number of energy-efficiency technologies now available, says Chief Sustainability Officer Cindy Ortega. MGM also launched a social app to raise employee awareness about water conservation.

TiE Silicon Valley, a not for profit organization dedicated to "fostering entrepreneurship in the Bay Area and globally," has announced an upcoming hackathon event focused on tackling three real-world issues within the "smart city" space: smart parking, waste disposal management and water access management. The event will begin in January 2016 and will last for two weeks. Winners will be invited to attend TiECon 2016, TiE's largest annual conference, and will also have an opportunity to win prizes and publicity.

Chile has created a vast marine park around the Desventuradas Islands, a few hundred miles off its coast, to protect many species that can be found nowhere else in the world. "For many years, Chile has been one of the most important fishing countries in the world," said campaigner Alex Munoz. With the marine park's creation, he added, "we're also becoming a leader in marine conservation." 

Between Indonesia's massive forest fires, the official approval of REDD+ at climate talks in Paris, and the establishment of several major national parks, there was plenty to get excited about in the world of rainforests during 2015. What's in store for 2016?

Dubai will spend millions of dirhams on incentives to have 42,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on the emirate's streets by 2030. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and the Road Transport Authority (RTA) on Sunday announced four incentives to help increase the number of plug-in cars, from free public parking and charging to toll-fee exemption and discounts on the plug-in car's registration.

A partnership between global customs and logistics company UPS and TerraCycle has reached a major milestone - by transforming hard-to-recycle items such as toothpaste tubes and snack bags into new products, the two organizations have diverted 40 million pounds of waste from landfills since 2012. TerraCycle has been utilizing UPS's expertise and technology solutions to scale its global recycling programs and customer base, which has allowed the company to turn 3.5 billion pieces of waste into useful products such as trash cans and park benches.

Nestle's half-liter bottles of water sold in the US under the Deer Park, Pure Life, Poland Spring, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, Arrowhead and Zephyrhills brands now feature the new How2Recycle label. The label reminds consumers to replace the cap before recycling the empty bottle.

Social media giant Facebook has switched all electric accounts at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to participate in a 100% renewable energy program created by a newly established California electricity supplier. 

A group of companies - including General Mills, The Hershey Company, and Nestlé - have committed to working with the governments of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana to end cocoa-related deforestation, protect national parks from illegal cocoa production, and improve the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers. The initiative is led by IDH - the Sustainable Trade Initiative, the Prince of Wales's International Sustainability Unit, and the World Cocoa Foundation, in partnership with the governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.