Metro Hippie

I’m not a huge chip person, but I do love me a good SunChip… they have just the right amount of flavor and crunchiness and make a delightful snack.  When I recently discovered that SunChips began using compostable materials for their packaging, I was thrilled!  Though it’s not a major overhaul, 33% of the 10.5 oz size bags are now made from renewable, plant based materials.  In 2010, the Frito Lay brand has ambitions of creating the first fully compostable bag of its kind, one that can decompose in a mere 14 weeks!

mmmm… Harvest Cheddar… definitely my favorite flavor!

SunChips has a commendable sustainabiilty initiative… Their Modesto, California plant is partially powered by PV panels… logically, right?  The company has also donated $1 million to help construct a solar-powered business incubator in Greensburg, Kansas, the city that is currently being rebuilt as the greenest in the country after it was leveled by a not-so-friendly tornado back in 2007.  In addition, SunChips has partnered with National Geographic to create The Green Effect, an initiative that allows indivuals to enter ideas to help their respective communities get green.  Five cash prizes of $20,000 will be awarded to those who come up with the best ideas for green change… suweet!

Bringing it back to the packaging real quick… this is interesting because it happens to be quite relevant to my life this month… I am attempting to go the entire 31 days of May without purchasing anything with plastic in it… (I’m also going meat free, booze free, and purchasing anything new free, but the plastic has been the hardest and scares me the most)… Think about it for a second, plastic is everywhere, particularly in food packaging!  I went grocery shopping the other day and came home with oatmeal, milk, fruits, veggies and whole bunch of bulk food.  I’ve cornered myself into actually having to cook for once!

Many of us know that plastics are among the worst things out there environmentally speaking… they are made from petroleums and don’t biodegrade naturally… they photodegrade, meaning they break down into smaller and smaller particles of plastic but never actually reenter the natural nutrient system… Much of our plastic waste will be sitting in fills for thousands of years.  Others will float out to sea, where they will lethargically contribute to the continent sized islands of plastic scattered around the worlds oceans.  (grrr… I always try and keep these posts fun and positive… sorry!)

So, hearing about SunChips commitment to compostable packaging made me really happy.  It is a huge step in moving us closer to a waste free society… if something like a bag of chips can pull off compostability (made up word?), than surely many other things are equally capable.

And I’m lucky that I like SunChips as much as I do, cause after walking through the grocery aisles, it looks like I won’t be eating much else this month!

-j