Bummed about baby bottles?Don't be! The hazards of plastic bottles containing bisphenol-A (BPA) are real, but so are the alternatives. BPA-free bottles are becoming more popular every day: here's how you can find them!
Choose baby bottles, water bottles, and sippy cups that are made of cloudy plastic. Many are available, like Nalgene's milky white water bottles, Evenflo's pastel baby bottles, and the Playtex Sipster. If a bottle isn't obviously cloudy, check the bottom and choose it only if it has one of these recycling codes: #2 HDPE, #4 LDPE, or #5 PP. Avoid bottles made of clear, hard plastic unless they are labeled BPA-free, like baby bottles from Medela and BornFree.
Or, you can choose sippy cups and water bottles made of stainless steel. Read the packaging and choose stainless steel bottles that aren't lined on the inside. (We're concerned about the linings because companies haven't fully disclosed what's in them.) Klean Kanteen's stainless steel bottles are unlined and come in various sizes, including a sippy cup (sign up to win one here). You can find Klean Kanteen bottles at REI and Patagonia stores, as well as online. Aluminum bottles are becoming popular too, but stick with unlined stainless steel: aluminum bottles typically have linings.
Traditional glass baby bottles are non-toxic. If you're worried about glass bottles breaking, try a protective sheath like Siliskin.
-Washington Toxics Coalition, May 2008
Sign up for "Growing up Green" here.
Washington Toxics Coalition Mission Statement and Guiding Principles
1 comment:
Hi there.
Great to see the resources you've listed for non-bpa water bottles. Below, I've added some alternatives to BPA and where to get them. This is part info-bite, part plug for the store I opened to specifically help people avoid petroleum-based products.
2 - we use glass refrigerator dishes too.
http://www.freemarketorganics.com/glfost.html
3 -I froze all of my daughter's breast milk and homemade baby food in 4 oz glass
jelly jars and was careful to leave room at the top so the glass wouldn't break.
4 - glass baby bottles
http://www.freemarketorganics.com/weekitchen.html
5 - My daughter's sippy cups are the safest form of stainless steel and made by Klean Kanteen
http://www.freemarketorganics.com/togo.html
6 - Our water bottles are also Klean Kanteen
http://www.freemarketorganics.com/togo.html
7 - We source cosmetics stored in glass and non-BPA plastics.
http://www.freemarketorganics.com/shopbody.html
http://www.afterglowcosmetics.com/
8 - All of my daughters toys are eco-painted wood, organic cotton or wool
http://www.freemarketorganics.com/shoptoys.html
http://www.blueberryforest.com/
9 - we avoid plastic wrappers and get much of our food from a local organic farm. It is clean, super high quality food and easy to do. Kids LOVE it! Many farms near all of us have programs called CSA's where you can get a box of in-season veggies w/great recipes once a week by paying a set fee, or making payments through out the year. Insurance companies such as Unity, Physicians Plus, GHC and many others will offer a rebate for folks joining CSAs. Find your local CSA:
http://www.localharvest.org/
10 - we use stainless coffee mugs instead of disposeable paper and plastic - can be found at any coffee chop
11 - avoid wearing polycarbonate glasses and lenses on your face and get hip glasses made of metal or... sustainable WOOD with glass lenses.
http://www.iwoodecodesign.com/iWood_content.html
12 - buy canned goods from companies that do not line their cans with BPA like Eden Foods and Trader Joes.
13 - avoid supporting the making of Polycarbonate( Bisphenol-A) Compact Discs by purchasing songs digitally and downloading them onto your computer or IPOD.
14 - If you smoke cigarettes - smoke the ones without the filters that contain plastic. If not - you double the harm done!
TO READ THE ORIGINAL PBS INTERVIEW WITH THE SCIENTIST WHO BROKE THE NEWS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF BPA GO HERE:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nature/interviews/vomsaal.html
Amelia Royko Maurer
http://www.freemarketorganics.com
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