Comments on: Greenwashing or Real Change?

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:17:06 +0000

Can you say Greenwashing…I will admit it is a tiny step in the right direction. No one is addressing the many, many miles these food products travel to get to your table. If we cannot compost the bag in our own composting mounds then they have to travel again some distance (short or long) to get repurposed/composted. These days I take some famous guy’s advise and cook my own food. Making chips, french fries, pizza, nachos and even crackers is pretty easy and in return you get to control the type of fat you use…you can actually say goodbye to the trans fats.

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:34:55 +0000

“Whole grain soft white winter wheat ”

namastemama, I can decipher this for you.

- whole grain: with bran, etc.
- soft: as opposed to hard; soft wheat has less gluten than hard wheat
- white winter wheat: this is one of the many varieties, I know the names but not very much about the differences; this strain is “white wheat” rather than “red wheat,” and grown in the winter as opposed to in the summer.

PS: I love your name, especially as I’m about to go to a yoga class. It’s a great cross-training option to complement my running.

By: Gannon

Gannon — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:05:12 +0000

Katy – thanks so much for your comments on our new SunChips bag. A couple of answers:
1) the reason we are only doing this on SunChips bags for now is capacity. This is a new technology with limited supply. As affordable capacity increases, our goal would be to expand these eco-friendly bags to other of our snacks.
2) it is true that our bag will compost best conditions called “hot active compost”. our website contains complete details on these conditions: http://www.sunchips.com Under other conditions, the bag will take longer to decompose. However, even if one does not choose to compost the bag, there is a further environmental benefit…as these bags are made with plants (a renewable resource) vs non-renewable resources.

Thanks again for your comments!

Gannon Jones
VP, Marketing – Frito Lay

By: namastemama

namastemama — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:47:48 +0000

Total greenwashing. Your post did make me go reach for a box of Triscuits. One of the only crackers I buy and said box was on sale. Ingredients: Whole grain soft white winter wheat (what the ?), soybean oil, salt. I never get a flavored kind because those have MSG. Cut out the Cheatos over a decade ago after reading DR. Andrew Weil. No MSG, no trans fats and no food coloring. i.e. NO Chester and most items on the snack isle. Haven’t seen the SunChips. The chips are right by the soda at our local store. Both non-food items. Only have to pass by on my way back from the dairy foods.
It is pretty easy to find the parent companies if you really want to boycot something. i.e ConAgra makes tons of stuff.
Today I planted over 70 seeds. Real food, no packaging and I know it will compost in less than 1 year!

By: Kayla K

Kayla K — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:41:55 +0000

I definitely think they’re doing the “green thing” just because it’s popular.

But, I’m very happy that it is so popular! I hope it sticks!

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:34:55 +0000

WilliamB, I have a system which may be a little crazy and tedious, I admit it. I do go online and check things out. Most companies leave tracks online, from trivial sites to company profiles and investment data. For example, I will not knowingly buy products which are tested on animals. Start with Proctor and Gamble and keep on researchin’ all their subsidiaries…you will find out that many laundry products etc are owned by P and G, which refuses to discontinue their cruel (and useless) tests, and these are the companies I will not support. In America, some types of products do have to be tested, but many do not: soap, laundry, make up etc. Those are the products I look carefully at, because consumers do have a choice in what they support, and they do wield a lot of power.

I check the label of any new product that catches my eye. If it says “no animal testing”, I will check it out online even so. Yeah, this is not a fun process but one I can live with. I do research for a living, so for me it’s probably not such a big deal. I understand why this would be too big a hassle for others. My point in mentioning the animal issue is, the whole consumer thing is such a balancing act, and I know a lot of us are out there making tough decisions.

By: Mrs. B

Mrs. B — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:11:50 +0000

Sorry Jeanine…I was thinking about the kind like you would buy bulk coffee beans out of. They could make the hole a bit bigger and that way you couldn’t just put your hand in and snack while being in the store. I think it is sad that we can’t bring our own deli containers to the store.

By: Jeanine

Jeanine — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:41:55 +0000

But it wouldn’t be sanitary. I can just see a kid reaching their hands down in the bins. As with so many “public” green measures, there are Public Health concerns that would need to be addressed.

I ran into that when I attempted to bring my own container for my local deli to place my sliced lunch meat. If you think about, it…..the rules have merit.

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:32:51 +0000

Karen – in this age of very large conglomerates, how do you find and vet companies that meet your other values? (I’m taking some leaps in my thoughts about what your other values are, based on the ones you included in your post.)

By: puppyluv

puppyluv — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:15:32 +0000

We got a bag of those the other day, and I did wonder if it actually worked. I guess I could test it, too. The bags feel really weird, sort of super-crinkly, I dunno, so there is something going on with them. But, do that many people really compost, to a point where it would be efficient to make the special bags? Because even biodegradable stuff takes a long time to decompose in dumps because of the lack of air or something, I forget.