Apparently it became all the rage in mid-19^th century Saratoga Springs, NY, to carry your potato chips around the spa town, munching along the way. (See part 1 for the dubious origin story.) As restaurants and vendors began selling potato chips around the world they often packaged them in waxed paper bags. Modern bags are made from multiple layers of plastic and foil and are essentially unrecyclable (The only option that I know of is to send them to Terracycle for “upcycling”).

Of all the issues that we face as consumers, packaging seems to be the one that rattles the most cages. The Guardian recently listed plastic-wrapped bananas and apple slices as pet peeves – and rightfully so. Putting aside those ridiculous examples, my feeling is that a lot of snacks, from potato chips to nuts, dried peas, spicy chickpeas, and energy bars, could be quite sustainable if it wasn’t for the packaging. So why haven’t compostable bags taken off?

The quest for compostable snack bags

About a decade ago, PepsiCo (Frito-Lay) decided to introduce compostable packaging for their Sun Chips. Most people considered the bags to be ridiculously noisy and apparently they didn’t compost well either. This poor start almost certainly delayed the idea taking off.

Boulder Canyon (4/5 Green Stars) developed a compostable bag that was an improvement on the Sun Chips version on several levels. They were made from cellulose, derived from wood pulp from managed plantations, they composted well and were not too noisy. But they apparently didn’t sell well; Boulder Canyon scaled-back on the compostable bags (to Whole Foods stores in Illinois) and then removed them completely.

I thought my snacking dilemma was over when Ocean’s Halo (5/5 Green Stars) came out with a tasty seaweed chip in compostable packaging (discussed in part 1). Alas, they must not have sold well because they are also no longer available (in any packaging).
So, compostable bags can be made – it just seems that they haven’t caught on yet…

The Myth of the Ethical Consumer

This could be an example of the theory described in The Myth of the Ethical Consumer (you can download the full book here). The idea is that people claim to be motivated by social and environmental factors but will often make shopping choices that don’t match their ideals. I think this is to be expected in the early stages of a journey – most of us will make good choices some of the time, and at other times will let things slip. It’s a matter of awareness, on both a personal and societal level, and once things take off (as they did in the movement against plastic carrier bags) we won’t look back. Speaking of which, it’s Zero Waste Week, so this is a good time to think about packaging and our motivation to reduce it.

Some of the most ethical consumers, those living low-waste lifestyles, may not even be that interested in compostable bags because they’ve adapted to avoiding most packaged goods. I don’t generate much waste these days and I often manage to avoid the temptation to buy packaged chips by popping corn or cooking potatoes at home:
Substitute for Potato Chips: Cut a potato into 1/4 inch slices, parboil and then sauté on both sides in a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary. Voila!

But, like most people, I do still occasionally buy packaged snacks and I’d love to see compostable packaging. In the meantime, here’s one way of reducing your impact:

You’re Going to Need a Bigger Bag

Many think that the Jaws quote is “We’re going to need a bigger boat”, but it’s actually “You’re going to…” But that’s beside the point (or besides the point, if you prefer incorrect phrases, haha). My point (and I do have one) is that I came across an impressively sized bag of Luke’s organic potato chips – 800 grams (28 oz.) – and decided to compare the amount of packaging used to 35 individual 0.8 oz. bags of Popchips. Total package surface area for the giant bag is 0.34 square meters (57 x 30 cm x 2 sides) while 35 “single-serve” bags of Popchips (amounting to the same weight of chips) uses 2.86 square meters of packaging. That’s over 8 times more packaging!

So there you have it, you can cut your waste by up to 90% by just buying the largest bag you can find! Larger packages also reduce carbon and material footprints for printing, packaging and transportation (distribution from the factory and also trips to the store). Another advantage of a huge bag is that you pass the point where you risk eating them all at once, so you’re actually in a better position to exercise portion control 😉
When reviewing items it’s always worth considering the amount of packaging – I usually rate a multi-pack with excess packaging at least one Green Star lower than a similar product with less packaging. And do you think it’s reasonable to say that no snack brand should get 5/5 green stars unless it comes in compostable packaging?

I’ll return to The Myth of the Ethical Consumer in a future post.

Meanwhile, here’s a brief ethical guide to potato chip brands.

Cheers!