Spring Cleaning and Green World Travel
by JANE BOGNER
SUNDAY, May 21,  2006

It=s time for a little spring cleaning. My husband and I borrowed an extension ladder and tackled our windows last week. Using vinegar and water with T-shirt rags worked like a charm.   Next, I decided to clean out a file cabinet that I had loaded with a collection of newspaper and magazine articles that I use for ideas for this column.

Today, because of the internet and e-newsletters, I don=t need to save all those paper articles. It is easy to store articles and web links in my computer files for future use. Don=t get me wrong, I still enjoy and use the articles that my friends send me from their local newspapers and trade magazines.

So in that spirit, I=ll share a couple of plastic waste factoids that I unearthed.

Seventeen Hostess bakeries across the country pump out almost 52,000 Twinkies per hour. The Twinkies wrappers add about 40,000 miles of plastic wrap to the landfills annually. Now add to that all the other individually wrapped snacks, candy bars, and power bars and we can cover our planet with plastic.

The Number 7 OTHER plastic comes in many forms. I=ve listed the specs for a common product. One layer of plastic is strong, another resists punctures, one protects flavor, and so on for nine layers of different plastics. The product is a plastic toothpaste tube.

Alternatively, Tom=s of Maine uses coated aluminum tubes for their natural toothpaste. Their tubes are lined with a thin layer of food-grade plastic that prevents the toothpaste from coming into contact with the aluminum.

Traveling Green

Periodically I get photos and notes from friends who are traveling the world. The Plutchoks just returned from China and reported that they saw side-by-side trash bins labeled Recyclable and UnRecyclable.