Are Ziploc Evolve Bags Really 'Made With Wind Energy?'

This is a story about bags, but it's not the same old "paper vs. plastic." To understand the twists and turns here, a few words about the electric grid are necessary. The electricity from wind farms and solar "groves" is usually uploaded to the grid, where it joins the vast sea of other electrons generated conventionally, from natural gas and coal plants.

Because of that, companies that buy "green energy" to lower their carbon footprint (or simply because they want some good public relations) pay a monthly fee to a power broker. That supplier buys (or produces on its own) renewably-generated electricity that it feeds into the grid. For companies, what they're buying is renewable energy certificates, or RECs, which can be traded and applied toward voluntary environmental goals. It's an admirable action for companies to take, but there's no direct connection to the actual manufacturing operations.