nosh nook #25 - friday, april 17, 2009

sunchips bags to disintegrate (link)
04.16.09 - the topeka capital journal - by mike hall

i've always enjoyed sunchips. they have simple flavors, taste good (mmm french onion) & aren't as greasy as most chips. compared to the rest of chips out there, they're healthier for you than most & fairly harmless overall. now frito-lay/pepsico is attempting to make them less harmless on the environment as well, with 100% compostable packaging. i'm part hippie & as such, really love the totally positive vibe that sunchips have always given off.  being environmentally conscious only enhances that vibe.

according to mike hall's article, frito-lay has already "reduced the amount of plastic in packaging by 10 percent in the past five years." starting now, they're going to start selling sunchips in bags that are one-third compostable, with the goal of making the bags 100% compostable by earth day of next year. they're doing so by using polyactic acid/plant-based material in their packaging.

it's good to see that pepsico is doing something about their environmental impact. as a multinational, multi-billion dollar company, they have a larger impact on the globe than many small countries do. as hall notes, frito-lay donated $1 million dollars to help repair greensburg, ks, the town that was basically leveled by a tornado almost two years ago. they also had a hand in "inaugurating a solar concentrator field at frito-lay’s modesto, calif., facility," and "(e)nergy from the sun’s rays is helping run the modesto plant."

it looks like making efforts like this, so that frito-lay/pepsico can have a counterweight against the negative efffects of their corporate impact, has now become the cost of doing business. sure, they're still pepsico, but for now, i'll take it, especially if it makes sunchips more appealing.