A landfill of energy bar wrappers

Have you ever wondered if you could recycle the wrappers from energy bars? I have, and I know I'm not alone because it's a topic among my coworkers whenever someone eats an energy bar (which is often). Considering how popular these bars have become (remember when the chewy Power Bars in misleading chocolate and funky banana were all we had to choice from), I'd feel better knowing all those wrappers -- 20 billion according to one statistic I read -- don't have to go to a landfill.

While on vacation I've decided to make it my mission to find out if these wrappers are recyclable. A few weeks ago my coworker gave it her best shot by e-mailing the makers of Luna Bar, but alas, they never responded. Yesterday I called the Long Beach recycling department and the woman on the other end answered my question by reading from a list I had already seen on their website. Yes, I know you can recycle bottles and cans, but what about the trickier stuff that isn't mentioned? So she guessed. She said that since the wrappers have foil, they aren't recyclable. I also asked about egg cartons (since I had her on the phone) and she thought they are recyclable since they're made of cardboard. I'm glad I went to an "expert" source.

Oh I know, just Google it, right? But that's so easy. I wanted to do it the official way. OK fine. A Google search for "Can I recycle energy bar wrappers?" turns up this sentence: "Every year millions of non-recyclable energy bar wrappers end up in our landfills." Damn. But wait, I click on a link to a program for recycling wrappers. Aha. I've found the Holy Grail!

The website http://www.terracycle.net/cbb/cbb.htm explains that TerraCycle, Clif Bar and Balance Bar have started a program to "upcycle" wrappers by making them into other things, like purses. They'll send you bags to put your wrappers in and after you've collected 200, you send them back. And the program is FREE. Where do I sign up? Screech ... my excitement grinds to a halt. After I sign up to be part of the Energy Bar Brigade (ain't that catchy) I get sent an e-mail saying I've been put on a waiting list. Despite the plethora of press they've received, it's a trial program with only 500 spots. (Although later I got an e-mail saying they're in the process of expanding.)

My search continues, while energy bar wrappers collect in my room ...

Today I returned to my Internet search. The website http://www.lime.com/blog/greenlagirl/2008/06/09/oh_things_you_can_upcycle%20says provides addresses where you can send wine corks and used Brita filters. But that's all I find. It appears the answer to my question is a big fat NO.

I know that the best solution is to eat less energy bars. I'm opposed to them for dietary reasons too. Every time I buy one I hear Michael Pollan's voice saying, "eat what your grandmother would eat," meaning simple, whole foods. But it's too hard to always have a whole food snack on hand when you're gone all day at work and exercising after work. Sometimes I just gotta have an energy bar.

So until I get my TerraCycle bags in the mail, I will try to buy fewer energy bars and eat more whole food snacks instead. That'll be easy while I'm on vacation. It'll get trickier when I go back to work.