Off Topic: Frito Lay's Green Efforts

Reusable bag is big enough to hold three bags of chips.

Front and back side of the informational page.

I was contacted by Frito Lay to learn more about their green efforts and in return they would send me a Frito Lay Snack Pack. Naturally the free snack pack sounded yummy as what you see in the pictures above is what I received. These products are: Lay’s Classic potato chips (10.5 oz), Tostitos Restaurant Style with a Hint of Lime tortilla chips (13 oz), two bags of SunChips snacks in Garden Salsa and Harvest Cheddar (10.5 oz each), and a reusable Frito-Lay grocery bag made from recycled material. Plus an informational page explaining more about their green efforts. However, I was also curious as to what these green efforts where and how Frito-Lay has gone further than any other U.S. food manufacturer in taking a production facility nearly “off the grid”.

So what are these green efforts you may ask. Well, "Frito-Lay North America is committed to demonstrating Performance with Purpose through delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and the planet. Since 1999, Frito-Lay has implemented conservation programs that utilize innovative approaches and technologies to reduce the resources needed to make it's products. These efforts have been recognized by national, state and local organizations across the country.

A few years ago, Frito-Lay set out on an ambitious mission to transform an existing facility so that it would run primarily on renewable energy sources and recycled water while producing nearly zero waste. We called this effort "near net zero." We chose the Casa Grande, Arizona facility because of its location, where sunlight is plentiful and water conservation is important, and its size - big enough to be effective, yet small enough to be manageable. Frito-Lay invested and implemented a combination of technologies to enable Casa Grande to significantly reduce the use of key natural resources and reduce the site's overall environmental footprint.

Using innovative technologies, our Casa Grande facility is generating 2/3 of all energy used from renewable sources and is working towards significant reductions:
- 75% of water is recycled
- 50% reduction of greenhouse gases
- 80% reduction in the use of natural gas

In October 2009, Frito-Lay Casa Grande became the company's, the State of Arizona's and the U.S.'s first snack food manufacturing facility to be certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) 2.0 Existing Building Gold."

The Casa Grande plant is a great example of how Frito-Lay is working to minimize its impact on the environment. I encourage you to learn more about the Casa Grande plant and Frito-Lay’s groundbreaking sustainability efforts here. When I did I was very impressed by what they are doing as I was unaware of their efforts. Knowing this information encourages me to buy more of their products to show my support in their green efforts.

Disclaimer: I received what's in the photos above from Frito-Lay.