Frito-Lay, others embrace “green”

NEW YORK Frito-Lay is really putting the sun in SunChips.

The Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo is using the sun to support its SunChips line of multigrain snacks in an effort to go “green.” The boost to the SunChips campaign comes after Frito-Lay recently announced that it has upgraded its SunChips-producing plant in Modesto, Calif., to run on solar power.

The company says nearly 10 acres of solar panels have been installed to store 75 percent of the energy needed to produce SunChips.

The Modesto plant is one of seven in the United States that makes SunChips. The plant is scheduled to make the changeover to solar power on Earth Day, April 22.

Other companies, such as Coca-Cola, General Electric, General Motors, E. W. Scripps, car makers and mass retailers, are also jumping aboard the green bandwagon with campaigns to promote their earth-preservation efforts around Earth Day.

For example, Macy’s is teaming up with the National Parks Foundation to promote a fundraising campaign called “Turn Over a New Leaf” and the upstart of a new ad agency called Union Green that specializes in serving eco-conscious clients.