Frito-Lay's SunChips Brand and National Geographic Reveal Finalists Competing for...

Frito-Lay's SunChips Brand and National Geographic Reveal Finalists Competing
for Grants in 'Green Effect' Initiative
Consumers Nationwide to Help Select One of Five Winners via Online Voting;
Panel of Eco Ambassadors to Choose Other Four

PLANO, Texas, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- After receiving more than 2,500
submissions, SunChips, PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division's popular line of
multigrain snacks, and National Geographic announced today the 10 finalists in
the Green Effect, a national initiative that encourages consumers to take
their own small steps toward helping the planet. In April 2009, SunChips and
National Geographic invited consumers across the country to submit their ideas
on how to make their communities greener. Five winners will each be awarded a
$20,000 grant to help turn their green idea into reality. In addition to the
grant, the winners and their earth-friendly ideas will be profiled in National
Geographic magazine and will travel to Washington, DC to share their projects
with environmental leaders.

Now it's up to green enthusiasts nationwide to choose one of the five winners
by voting for their favorite green idea now through July 20, 2009 at
www.greeneffect.com. The judging panel, which will choose the other four
winners, will be comprised of actor Edward Norton, National Geographic's Boyd
Matson, eco-activist Jayni Chase, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green for All
and Dave Haft, Group Vice President, Sustainability and Productivity,
Frito-Lay North America.

"Our goal in creating The Green Effect was to support passionate individuals
with ideas that can have a positive environmental impact on their communities.
We've been literally blown away by both the quality and quantity of the ideas
we received," said Gannon Jones, vice president, portfolio marketing,
Frito-Lay North America. "Now it's up to consumers and our distinguished
judges to tell us which ideas they're most inspired by."

The Green Effect initiative provides a platform for individuals and groups
with unique eco-friendly ideas an opportunity to turn them into reality.
Entries came from all across the country, representing individuals, schools,
green groups and everything in between. Now through July 20, 2009, fans can
cast their vote for their favorite finalist. The winners will be announced on
July 22, 2009 at www.greeneffect.com.

The 10 finalists (in alphabetical order) and their green idea are:
-- Canal Youth Concilio of San Rafael, CA: hopes to add a fleet of
industrial tricycles to its four month old community recycling
cooperative, helping Canal residents keep their neighborhood
trash-free
and green.
-- CarbonfreeDC of Washington, DC: would launch the "Extreme Green
Neighborhood Makeover" to help 20 low-income families from a city
block green their homes and save on their energy bills.
-- Eureka Recycling of Twin Cities, MN: plans to expand their existing
composting education workshops to reach more people in the community,
including underserved neighborhoods.
-- Galante-Amato family of Echo Park, CA: wants to educate and activate
drought-stricken Los Angeles residents to adopt a "gray water"
system to help save 70,000+ gallons of water weekly.
-- Hingham High School of Hingham, MA: plans to create a campus
greenhouse
to help educate students on how to live a completely sustainable life.
-- Julian Elementary School of Julian, CA: hopes to curb waste created by
the use of disposable dishware for class celebrations by creating
green
classroom party kits of reusable dishware for public schools in San
Diego County.
-- Kimball School of National City, CA: dreams of establishing "The
Little Salt Marsh Schoolhouse," a science lab for students to
conduct field studies on conservation, animal adaptation, etc. using
Paradise Creek Salt Marsh.
-- The Recreation and Parks District of Mount Shasta, CA: hopes to build
a
solar-panel roof over the communities' open-air ice rink to save
energy usage throughout the year.
-- Palo Alto College's "Go Green Viva Verde! Committee:"
wishes to begin a bike sharing initiative, "Small Steps on Bike
Pedals," on the San Antonio, TX college campus

-- Tristan Frolich of Steamboat Springs, CO: plans to organize a tree
planting day to plant 20,000 lodgepole pine saplings around the resort
town to replace those killed by the Mountain Bark Beetle.

The Green Effect program is another small step in the SunChips brand's
sustainability journey. Most recently, the SunChips brand announced that in
2010, it plans to introduce the first fully compostable snack chip bag of its
kind made from plant-based renewable materials.

SunChips multigrain snacks, originally introduced in 1991, contain a full
serving of whole grains, 0 grams of trans fats, and are made with sunflower
oil. SunChips snacks, available in Original, Harvest Cheddar, French Onion,
Garden Salsa and Peppercorn Ranch flavors, provide 18 grams of whole grains
per one ounce serving from a blend of corn, oats and wheat.

Frito-Lay North America is the $12 billion convenient foods business unit of
PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. In addition to
Frito-Lay, PepsiCo business units include Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, Gatorade
and Tropicana. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site,
www.fritolay.com, and the Snack Chat blog, www.snacks.com.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies,
with 2008 annual revenues of more than $43 billion. Its principal businesses
include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks,
Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. PepsiCo's commitment to sustainable growth,
defined as Performance with Purpose, is focused on generating healthy
financial returns while giving back to communities the Company serves. This
includes meeting consumer needs for a spectrum of convenient foods and
beverages, reducing the Company's impact on the environment through water,
energy and packaging initiatives, and supporting its employees through a
diverse and inclusive culture that recruits and retains world-class talent.
For more information, please visit http://www.pepsico.com/.

The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit
scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to "increase and
diffuse geographic knowledge," the Society works to inspire people to care
about the planet. National Geographic reflects the world through its
magazines, television programs, films, music and radio, books, DVDs, maps,
exhibitions, school publishing programs, interactive media and merchandise.
National Geographic magazine, the Society's official journal, published in
English and 31 local-language editions, is read by more than 40 million people
each month. The National Geographic Channel reaches 305 million households in
34 languages in 165 countries. National Geographic Digital Media receives more
than 12 million visitors a month. National Geographic has funded more than
9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports
an education program combating geography illiteracy. For more information,
visit nationalgeographic.com.

CONTACT: Aurora Gonzalez
Frito-Lay North America
Tel: 972-334-3821

SOURCE Frito-Lay

Aurora Gonzalez of Frito-Lay North America, +1-972-334-3821