How bad is plastic?

[moonlight]

Surely there is one of you that has looked into this subject. All of you are amazingly well informed! I'll keep waiting for someone to chime in with the what and the how to change some things in my kitchen. Sigh. If no one posts I'll ask our pedi. DH is useless. He doesn't understand why he can't microwave our food in plastic. I want to change things as safely and most cost effective as possible. I'll buy mason jars if that's the best solution.

[Liisi]

I think a year before DD was born or maybe when she was a year old (the brain does get fuzzy) I listened to this report on NPR about how harmful toxins are to girls especially regarding likelihood of cancer. Maybe you (or anyone on here) can give me some more info on this. I wish I knew more of the details from what I heard.

Yes - here's a recent CDC study about the issue. http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2012/puberty/
"Early puberty? Girls exposed to household chemical menstruate earlier, CDC study finds."

[poky]

Just noticed that Amazon's having a sale on small glass food containers (perfect for baby food or snacks), and thought of this thread: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_ba...node=165796011

[moonlight]

Just noticed that Amazon's having a sale on small glass food containers (perfect for baby food or snacks), and thought of this thread: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_ba...node=165796011

Thank you!! I'll check that out today.

We talked about it more and like many of you said it would be impossible for us to remove all plastic in regards to our food storage. For example, how would we buy yogurt? Everything seems to come in plastic!

My fix for right now was to trow out all my cheepo plastic storage containers and buy (on sale!) a new set of plastic storage containers that are BPA free. Its not the fix I wanted but I think its the most realistic thing I could do right now.

[SoonerTexan]

How much are they normally?

Moonlight, you can usually find glass ones at TJMaxx pretty cheap. I also got a nice set of 8ish at Costco for $25

[ides]

I've been meaning to post in this thread. Don't buy new plastic! I will find and post the article I found that says almost all plastic leaches estrogen into food/drinks. Some non-bpa are even worse. Plastic is poison. Switch to glass. You can use mason jars if need be which are inexpensive. I'm trying to take the plastic out of my kitchen. It is a challange for sure and some things I can't remove right away. Canned food tins are lined with bpa plastic so I am repairing my canner and will be canning my own supply of beans, tomatoes, etc. Eventually I might even make my own yogert- not sure though. You can also store bread wrapped in a dish towel & put in a tin or bread box. I also found this awesome wax cloth a woman in Canada makes that you can use instead of plastic wrap or bags.

If you need a jolt watch Plastic Planet. It's on netflix streaming. This really wasn't on my radar until recently but its important to me now. You can also read the Wikipedia page on bpa- freaked me the hell out!

[diggitydot]

Making homemade yogurt is SUPER easy. I make a batch every week or so.

[SuzySunshine]

My issue is what do I send in my kids lunches? I can't send glass!

[Liisi]

My issue is what do I send in my kids lunches? I can't send glass!

wax paper bags, or lunch jars from a place like http://secure.laptoplunches.com/item...=LUNCHJARS&Bc=, or reusable baggies from http://www.snacktaxi.com/

[Pollyanna]

I rarely store food in plastic probably because my mother never did. When we used bottles I typically used the Evenflo old school glass ones, just seemed better for baby (but we had some plastic ones too). For lunches though we use zip locks or foil. Dd10 has a lunch box with a stainless steel insert that she will bring back and forth but the boys just want a brown paper bag they can toss.

[HouseofWool]

wax paper bags, or lunch jars from a place like http://secure.laptoplunches.com/item...=LUNCHJARS&Bc=, or reusable baggies from http://www.snacktaxi.com/

The fabric from the reusable baggies are typically embedded with some sort of plasticizer which is what makes it washable, so they might help with the disposable mentality, but they will not help with reducing exposure to plastics.

[Chrisada]

My issue is what do I send in my kids lunches? I can't send glass!

I use these. Washable and super cute. One of the reviews said didn't hold up in the wash, but mine have fine.
http://www.amazon.com/Sugarbooger-Lu...nch+snack+sack

[poky]

I've been meaning to post in this thread. Don't buy new plastic! I will find and post the article I found that says almost all plastic leaches estrogen into food/drinks. Some non-bpa are even worse. Plastic is poison. Switch to glass. You can use mason jars if need be which are inexpensive. I'm trying to take the plastic out of my kitchen. It is a challange for sure and some things I can't remove right away. Canned food tins are lined with bpa plastic so I am repairing my canner and will be canning my own supply of beans, tomatoes, etc. Eventually I might even make my own yogert- not sure though. You can also store bread wrapped in a dish towel & put in a tin or bread box. I also found this awesome wax cloth a woman in Canada makes that you can use instead of plastic wrap or bags.

If you need a jolt watch Plastic Planet. It's on netflix streaming. This really wasn't on my radar until recently but its important to me now. You can also read the Wikipedia page on bpa- freaked me the hell out!

I'd be interested in seeing the article you mention; my understanding is that harder plastics (types 1 and 2) are pretty damn inert, and won't be leaching much of anything.

Those bags liisi linked to look pretty cool, and seem like they'd be pretty easy to make; it's just cotton and polyurethane-coated nylon sewn together with a fastener (I'd prefer a snap to velcro, myself); throw them in the washer and dryer when they get dirty.

[ides]

Ok. I'm on the computer now. Here is the link to the article I mentioned.

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2011/04...ing-chemicals/

[ides]

Here are the wax cloth wraps I mentioned before. I have a couple on order to check out. There are flats and then there are some with closures. I think the ones with closures would be good for an adult or older child for traveling with snacks or sandwiches. I'm thinking of using one of these for dh's sandwiches.

Abeego http://www.abeego.ca/