Green Life, Healthy Life: A series of Posts on raising a Green Family
This is for all you Moms and Soon-to-be Moms
This is going to be a series of informative posts, I advise you to do your own research to come up with your own decisions.
In this blog I am going to discuss with you the BIG choice that my husband and I have made recently on the topic of plastics.
I am sure you have been hearing all about "Green" living. My husband and I have tried very hard to start changing our carbon foot print on this planet and the more we research the more afraid I get about what we are Consuming, Breathing, and Placing on our bodies and in our families' mouths.
Lesson #1 Plastics
How plastics can be dangerous for our bodies.
The big topic right now is BPA. BPA (Bisphenol A) is a very common additive that is added to plastic to make them shatter proof and clear. This chemical has been studied for its estrogen mimicking characteristics which has been linked to causing cancer, obesity and Type II diabetes and also affecting Fetal and Infant brain development. Since this is such a new topic and research is in the beginning stages there is some controversy on their true effects. So far the State of California has banned the use of BPA in baby products starting in 2009, New Hampshire is also following along. Canada has also started legal oppositions to the use of BPA. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-21-BPA-phase-out_N.htm Toys r Us has also released that they will be pulling off their shelves any baby feeding products that contain BPA. Also Nalgene will no longer be making any of the bottles with BPA. Let me also say that BPA is harmful for everyone, but especially those little ones and pregnant moms.
You are probably saying right now, great, what do I do now? First determine if your plastic is safe, look on the bottom of the container for the recycling code. Codes #1,2, 4, 5, are safe from BPA in some cases #7 are ok, but you need to further check. #3 and #6 should never be used. Also #6 can not be recycled! http://www.iatp.org/
Your best bet is go glass! It is safe and usually cheaper (baby bottles) than their plastic competitors, its been used for 100's of years and it's recycling capability is never ending, unlike plastics which can only be recycled a few times (depending on the #) and then takes hundreds of years to decompose in our landfills.
How plastics can be dangerous for our environment.
Only #1,2,3,4,5 can be recycled.
#1 PET or PETE can be recycled only once.
#2HDPE can be recycled once.
#3 PVC Usually discarded at the recycling plant. AVOID for food contact. Make sure your plastic wrap is made of LDPE and not PVC. Can contain Lead as well. (DON'T DRINK FROM YOUR GARDEN HOSE!)
#4LDPE Can be recycled.
#5PP Can be recycled.
#6, PS Can not be recycled, AVOID
#7 Other AVOID unless it states that it is made with bio based plastics like corn, rice, potato or tapioca.
As I mentioned before that it takes many years for plastic bottles in landfills to decompose. You say, but I recycle, well only 30% of those water bottles make it to recycling facilities. Since plastics are made from petroleum (oil) it also makes a huge impact on the air we breath during the manufacturing process. To start small, and still have your "bottled water" place a filtration system under your sink ($50 at Lowes) and refill your favorite (NON BPA) reusable water bottle everyday. You will not only save a lot of money but you are also eliminating tons of waste and pollutants from our earth.
This is going to be a series of informative posts, I advise you to do your own research to come up with your own decisions.
In this blog I am going to discuss with you the BIG choice that my husband and I have made recently on the topic of plastics.
I am sure you have been hearing all about "Green" living. My husband and I have tried very hard to start changing our carbon foot print on this planet and the more we research the more afraid I get about what we are Consuming, Breathing, and Placing on our bodies and in our families' mouths.
Lesson #1 Plastics
How plastics can be dangerous for our bodies.
The big topic right now is BPA. BPA (Bisphenol A) is a very common additive that is added to plastic to make them shatter proof and clear. This chemical has been studied for its estrogen mimicking characteristics which has been linked to causing cancer, obesity and Type II diabetes and also affecting Fetal and Infant brain development. Since this is such a new topic and research is in the beginning stages there is some controversy on their true effects. So far the State of California has banned the use of BPA in baby products starting in 2009, New Hampshire is also following along. Canada has also started legal oppositions to the use of BPA. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-21-BPA-phase-out_N.htm Toys r Us has also released that they will be pulling off their shelves any baby feeding products that contain BPA. Also Nalgene will no longer be making any of the bottles with BPA. Let me also say that BPA is harmful for everyone, but especially those little ones and pregnant moms.
You are probably saying right now, great, what do I do now? First determine if your plastic is safe, look on the bottom of the container for the recycling code. Codes #1,2, 4, 5, are safe from BPA in some cases #7 are ok, but you need to further check. #3 and #6 should never be used. Also #6 can not be recycled! http://www.iatp.org/
Your best bet is go glass! It is safe and usually cheaper (baby bottles) than their plastic competitors, its been used for 100's of years and it's recycling capability is never ending, unlike plastics which can only be recycled a few times (depending on the #) and then takes hundreds of years to decompose in our landfills.
How plastics can be dangerous for our environment.
Only #1,2,3,4,5 can be recycled.
#1 PET or PETE can be recycled only once.
#2HDPE can be recycled once.
#3 PVC Usually discarded at the recycling plant. AVOID for food contact. Make sure your plastic wrap is made of LDPE and not PVC. Can contain Lead as well. (DON'T DRINK FROM YOUR GARDEN HOSE!)
#4LDPE Can be recycled.
#5PP Can be recycled.
#6, PS Can not be recycled, AVOID
#7 Other AVOID unless it states that it is made with bio based plastics like corn, rice, potato or tapioca.
As I mentioned before that it takes many years for plastic bottles in landfills to decompose. You say, but I recycle, well only 30% of those water bottles make it to recycling facilities. Since plastics are made from petroleum (oil) it also makes a huge impact on the air we breath during the manufacturing process. To start small, and still have your "bottled water" place a filtration system under your sink ($50 at Lowes) and refill your favorite (NON BPA) reusable water bottle everyday. You will not only save a lot of money but you are also eliminating tons of waste and pollutants from our earth.
Remember, start small, one step at a time!
Stay tuned for the next lesson.
Lesson:#2 Phthalates in Baby and Adult Cosmetics
Kari
posted by Andrew Kari at
4/22/2008 01:18:00 PM
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