All of the plastic clamshell containers in which Earthbound Farm packages its fresh salads now are made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate – or PCR PET – according to a news release.

While virgin PET is made primarily from natural gas feedstock, PCR PET is made from previously used plastic products like soda or water bottles that would otherwise end up in landfills, the 25-year-old San Juan Bautista, Calif.-based company said.

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition says PCR PET materials use significantly less energy and water to produce than virgin plastic and result in lower greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste, according to the Earthbound Farm release.

As a result of the switch, Earthbound Farm will conserve 424,000 million BTUs and 68,307 gallons of water, as well as eliminate 16,191 tons of carbon dioxide and divert 1.3 million pounds of solid waste from landfills, the firm said.

"We started farming organically because we were concerned about the personal and environmental health effects of farming with chemicals," Myra Goodman, co-founder and executive vice president of Earthbound Farm, said in the release. "More ecological packaging is an important next step."

E-mail Tom Burfield