by Michael Smith (Veshengro) BOULDER, CO: In the same week that Earth Day was celebrated in April 2010, Boulder Canyon™ Natural Foods unveiled plans for a compostable package for its popular All Natural Kettle Cooked Potato Chip line. The Company believes that the 7.5-ounce bag, made from wood pulp sourced from plantations that have Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) or similar certification, is the first compostable packaging developed for the natural snack food category. The new packaging is available immediately at Colorado-area Whole Foods stores with a suggested retail price of $3.49-$3.99 per package.
The Boulder Canyon compostable packaging is made from materials that are certified to meet the “Specification for Compostable Plastics” standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials. The bags can be composted in home or industrial composters, recycled through approved organic recycling programs, or incinerated at modern incineration plants.
In contrast to the corn and starch-based compostable bag recently introduced by a leading traditional snack manufacturer, the Boulder Canyon bags are made from wood pulp to mitigate any potential negative impact on existing food supplies.
Consumers interested in the greening of their snacking won’t be forced to pay a big premium for supporting Mother Earth either; the cost per-ounce is similar to that of Boulder Canyon chips in standard five-ounce bags.
“At the core of the Boulder Canyon Natural Foods brand is a desire to eat naturally, free of additives and artificial ingredients, while also being good to the planet,” said Steve Sklar, senior vice president of marketing for Boulder Canyon. “Our new compostable packaging should make a positive impact on landfill waste, so we’re excited to see this day come.”
Boulder Canyon is a national sponsor of American Rivers, the leading river conservation organization in the United States. In addition, Boulder Canyon purchases enough Renewable Energy Credits to offset 100 percent of its operating emissions annually. This effort prevents nearly 3.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere each year.
It is about high time that some more natural packaging would be used for potato chips and other products. Compostability is always one of those things though, and this one claims to be able to be composted in the composting bin or -heap at home as well and that makes a change from the ordinary.
Many of the so-called compostable plastics and other packaging are only thus is put into industrial composting units and cannot be composted at home. Something the makers forget to tell us all conveniently.
Even with cereal cartons there is a composting issue in that the outside very often is coated with materials that do not compost well at home or take extremely long to do so.
Does the cardboard for such packaging really have to have thin laminate on it? I don't think so.
We must, for the Planet's sake, get back to simpler packaging and thins is a step into the right direction, I guess.
© 2010