Wow, do we have alot of Smarty Moms! The response to the BPA post has been so great that we thought we would post a follow up to give you all some more information. The following comes from our good friend Dana D., The Go Green Queen!
“I am so glad to see all the attention that this topic is getting lately! I have been reading about this for the past year and it hasn’t seemed to catch on to the masses until the last couple of months. Of course, I had used the Dr. Brown bottles, not knowing about the BPA issues. Once I became aware, I switched to the Born Free bottles. The bottles were great but we had issues with leaking with the Born Free sippy cups. We had similar issues with the Avent Magic cups, which are also BPA free (and affordable). So our new favorites are the Klean Kanteen and the Sigg cups. The Klean Kanteen are steel containers that actually use Avent sippy spouts. My boys LOVE them. I ordered them from
Amazon.com and you can also find them at Great Outdoor Provisions and REI, as well as www.kleankanteen.com.The Sigg cups are so cool! The design is adorable. There are some with cars and trucks for boys and cutesy girl-themed containers as well. They have a sport top attached to a steel container. My kids do fine drinking from these until they decide to turn it upside down and watch the milk drip from spout. You can turn the top to open and close and I am sure they will stop doing this eventually! I really do like the Sigg container though for function and design. You can find these at Earth Fare in limited quantities, or at Amazon.com or www.mysigg.com.
I have also tried the Thermos Foogo which is now available at Babies R Us and at Amazon.com. This is a steel container that has a sippy spout. I am just kind of anti-plastic right now so that’s why I say go for the steel containers. I would rather be safe than sorry. The steel containers usually cost from approximately $14.99- $17.99. So a bit more expensive, but definitely worth the cost in my opinion and they are easy to clean.
For BPA-free plates and utensils, there is a line called “Boon”. I have tried the plates and they are pretty good. Although I prefer to use my bamboo plates for the kids that I purchased at Earth Fare. The following is a great review of BPA free bottles, sippy cups and plates: www.naturemoms.com. Go under greatest hits and you will find her review of all the bottles, cups, etc.
For more ideas check out,
Laptop lunch– These are great for eliminating waste and come in cute colors. The kids will love them because it fits together like a puzzle. Wrap N Mat is a great alternative to plastic baggies. Did you know that over 20,000,000 baggies are thrown away each day? The mats are lead free and some are made in the US. Again, remember that every little bit helps to make this earth a better place for our children and their children!!”Thank you, Dana and all of you out there for sending in your comments. Please continue to do so. We love hearing from you and finding out new ways/products to keep our children safe and healthy!
9 comments
These posts have been very helpful. I’d be interested in some future posts about other potential health hazards to our kids..particularly in the way of food products (conventional vs. organic), use of microwaves, and other things about which I am sure I am unaware.
thanks for the followup! dumb question…so BPA is a chemical that is released that can be harmful when the bottle/cup is heated (in a micro or dishwasher). So that chemical hangs around and gets into what they are drinking? thanks again!
We use the SIGGS (even my 12 month old likes the sport top) and the laptop lunch box- we love them both! Great info
21 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Recycle Garbage. Americans produce more and more of it every year, when we need to be producing less. Even the most waste-conscious among us can feel overwhelmed by the amount of household waste that goes beyond what municipal recyclers and compost bins can handle. That’s why our editors spent the summer of 2007 investigating the state of waste management in our country, putting this list togther for you, explaining how we can get serious about the three R’s – reducing, reusing, and recycling — and divert more waste away from landfills. (To download the entire recycling issue of the Quarterly, visit our archives page.) 1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, http://www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, http://www.recycle-steel.org.2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, http://www.batteryrecycling.com. or Interstate Battery on Kings Dr.3. Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women’s shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer up used cardboard boxes at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org for others who may need them for moving or storage. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they’ll work like new: 888/454-3223, http://www.auraltech.com. 5. Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women’s business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, http://www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, and save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes.6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: http://www.ikea.com. 7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won’t be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at http://www.findacomposter.com.8. Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at http://www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html.9. Exercise videos: Swap them with others at http://www.videofitness.com. 10. Eyeglasses: Your local Lion’s Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses are reground and given to people in need. 11. Foam packing: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept foam peanuts for reuse. Or, call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site: 800/828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, 410/451-8340, http://www.epspackaging.org/info.html 12. Ink/toner cartridges: Recycleplace.com pays $1/each. 13. Miscellaneous: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them up on your local Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org listserv, or try giving them away at Throwplace.com or giving or selling them at iReuse.com. iReuse.com will also help you find a recycler, if possible, when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle. 14. Oil: Find Used Motor Oil Hotlines for each state: 202/682-8000, http://www.recycleoil.org.15. Phones: Donate cell phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country: 770/856-9021, http://www.collectivegood.com. Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims: http://www.donateaphone.com. Recycle single-line phones: Reclamere, 814/386-2927, http://www.reclamere.com.16. Sports equipment: Resell or trade it at your local Play It Again Sports outlet, 800/476-9249, http://www.playitagainsports.com.17. “Technotrash”: Project KOPEG offers an e-waste recycling program that can help you raise funds for your organization. Use Project KOPEG to recycle iPods, MP3 players, cell phones and chargers, digital cameras, PDAs, palm pilots, and more. Also, easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk’s Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees. 800/305-GREENDISK, http://www.greendisk.com.18. Tennis shoes: Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring. http://www.nikereuseashoe.com. One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti. http://www.oneworldrunning.com.19. Toothbrushes and razors: Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from Recycline, and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber. Recycline products are made from used Stonyfield Farms’ yogurt cups. 888/354-7296, http://www.recycline.com.20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25, call 866/33-TYVEK.21. Stuff you just can’t recycle: When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly.
I have a question about BPA free dishes. Is it okay to use things like correll that aren’t supposed to break easily for kids? They aren’t plastic right? Educate me!
I’ve gone back to this post since so much about BPA free bottles has been in the news…I bought a Foogo sippy cup but then realized that the top is still plastic. How do I know it is BPA free? NOTHING on the packaging indicates that.
Googlo Foogo and should bring you to http://www.thermos.comYou will find the following info. It says all products are BPA free.The vacuum-insulated stainless steel interior and exterior is non-reactive to all food and beverages•The soft drinking spout is made from “food contact safe” Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE)•The valve plate and lid are made from polypropylene (PP#5)•All materials are FDA approved•All plastics used for Thermos Foogo products are BPA free
In response to the comment regarding Correll, it appears to be safe from what I have researched but if in doubt I always contact the company. Hopefully, you will find someone knowledgeable about the product and will answer your questions. I recently contacted Williams Sonoma about a product and they were unable to tell me if it was BPA free. Good luck. There are several new bamboo plates out there now that you may want to try!
I just wanted to add my comments here since I used this blog piece to find BPA free sippys for my twins and went with the Foogo to start. Let me just say, though I love the design they leak everywhere!! So now I’ll be trying another suggested brand listed here. Also, I stopped in Great Outdoor to try to find the Kleen Kanteen sippys & they do not carry them, just the larger thermos. Thank you so much for this info, I can’t tell you how valuable it is in my decision making process!