ANAHEIM--A future in plastics may be most closely associated with a line delivered to Dustin Hoffman's character in the 1967 movie "The Graduate," but Dodonna Bicknell is living her own 2003 version.

She has co-founded Planet Friendly Plastics, which debuted its product line of completely biodegradable plastic bags at last weekend's Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim.

"I felt I needed to do something positive for the environment," said Bicknell, an executive producer at the commercial-making firm Uncle TV and creator of television ads for such past clients as Nike, Microsoft and the National Cotton Council.

"I always wondered what happens to landfills. We started the company about a year ago and started making products three to four months ago," Bicknell said.

Bicknell has contracted with a manufacturer to make kitchen bags, larger 40-gallon bags and dog poop bags. Each product is made with durable plastic and a chemical additive that activates once the bag is exposed to the methane gases that develop in a typical landfill. She said there would be "zero" toxic residues as the bag breaks down.

"We plan to be competitive in pricing," said Bicknell, noting other makers of cornstarch-based, non-plastic bags must charge more because it costs more to make the product.

For now, the seasoned producer is counting on word-of-mouth marketing and raised consumer consciousness rather than doing any TV spots for her own product line. Another strategy is making custom bags for grocery chains--and altering the answer to the question "paper or plastic?"

"We've done some charity events in Hollywood, such as one for an animal shelter," Bicknell said. "People loved the dog pickup bags and the whole idea of biodegradable bags that are still strong enough to hold the garbage."

Bicknell is thinking big. The company plans to expand into such products as water bottles, food trays, eating utensils and more. She envisions Planet Friendly Plastics logos on goods in places from airplanes to schools.

"I'm especially excited about the concept of teaching kids about becoming more environmentally conscious," Bicknell said. "We've put more money into the company than expected, but I think we can do amazing things."

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COMING ATTRACTIONS

Anyone cruising the aisles at March's Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim needed a strategy for both viewing the exhibits and sampling the wares. Otherwise, both sore feet and upset stomachs would result.

That's why one massage-therapy booth featuring mini-sessions of foot reflexlogy (a healing discipline that can relieve sore feet and address medical concerns) was a bustle of activity. Here's a mere swatch of what was exhibited at the show:

Vegetarian chicken drumsticks; tofu kielbasa and beer brats; meatless chicken-style strips for salads; super-sized containers of juice smoothies; Japanese-bento box-style filet of salmon frozen dinner; 100 percent pomegranate juice (due in major Chicago supermarkets this summer, selling fast in southern California); 100 percent blueberry juice (look for individual juice boxes in Chicago during the coming months); red tea products claiming more antioxidants than green tea (one brand already is in 3,000 supermarkets on the East Coast); and bottled waters from such faraway places as New Zealand and Fiji.

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