Snarky Snacks

With as much data as there is pouring in about how we are wasting our planet's most valuable resources at a terrifyingly rapid pace, you might think that most people would "get it" by now. You know. Using CFL's instead of standard light bulbs. Trading the giant Hummer for a smaller, less gas guzzling model. Recycling at the most basic levels. Simple stuff, really. Even my most un-green friends have a basic understanding of why sustainability and green living are important, even if they're not quite ready to buy recycled toilet paper yet. Because if anything, being green is cool. It's hip. And more importantly, being green is marketable.

Claiming planet love really rakes in the dough. Of course, there is nothing wrong with making consumer products for eco-friendly. There is a market for these products after all, and I'm one of the consumers they are after. I guess what bothers me is that if there were no major profits to be had in making chemical free cleansers of low VOC paints, the companies simply would not manufacture them. Case in point: SunChips. The snack food giant Frito Lay had recently revamped it's packaging for SunChips. The new bags were made from a biodegradable material that could be composted, thus significantly lessening the environmental impact of SunChips production. It seemed to work. However, some idiot (I'm not a professional....I can say what I want!) started a Facebook group about how loud the new SunChips bags were and the company, fearing a drop in sales, nixed the biodegradable bag and switched back to the original packaging. 

That's right. The bag made too much noise. Seriously? So instead of saving millions of pounds of non-compostable plastic from being thrown into a landfill, we're going to revert back to the old packaging because a small number of consumers complained about noisiness whilst partaking of our snack. Okay. First of all, if you start a Facebook page about how noisy your snack bags are, you have waaaay too much time on your hands. Secondly, I can't believe that there are still so many people who refuse to give up an ounce of comfort for the stability and well being of generations to come. Are we really so selfish that we can't see the much bigger picture?

Yes, I'm standing on my soapbox here but really. There are times when I am ashamed to admit that my generation, recently dubbed "Generation Me" are a self centered, shallow, entitled, and all around clueless lot of people. There is no foresight, no thought to the future. Giant corporations like Frito Lay hold the power to make huge changes across the industry but in my opinion, they have seriously dropped the ball on this one. They are putting profit before planet And for what? If there was a legitimate concern with the bags....say, the new biodegradable bags made the chips taste like feet.....then yes, I say switch back and revamp. But because they are too noisy? Money talks...apparently louder than a biodegradable SunChips bag.

P.S. I know there at least 58 of you who read this on a semi-regular basis. I want your opinions. What do you think? Please leave a comment!