[augustgirl69]

I hope this is the right place to post it- if not, mods please move, THX

Ladies, I need some help regarding this whole plastics issue

I realized with the recent report on plastics and leaching (sp?) I needed to replace all my kids plastic sippy cups with something else- so I bought some kleen kanteens. What about all the kids platic plates? I have little ones- 3 and 22 mo. Are those still OK. How about hard plastic cups that are used for dinner? I assume the leaching is over a period of time- so a cup for dinner is no big deal- is taht correct?

What about storing vinegar/oils? I buy in bulk at the co-op and I use plasic bottles- should I traansfer them to glass at home? There is no # on the bottom of the bottles- just the recycling symbol.

Any other info or links would be GREATLY appreciated!!

 

[Adasmommy]

I don't know wheather your plastic cups and bowls are dangerous, but my daughter uses wooden bowls from the thrift store (salad bowls I guess)--light, safe, pretty--when she's not using our regular ceramic.

 

[BeagleMommy]

This is another thrift store solution. I love corelle ware or corning ware or whatever it is called. It's thin, light and nearly unbreakable. Thrift stores almost always have a variety of patterns. I like the variety. They also have very small plates.

 

[EnviroBecca]

Another vote for Corelle.

For your bulk oils, can't you just fill glass bottles? That's what I do.

 

[luvmy2boys]

After spending a lot of time worrying and researching, I came to the conclusion that I don't really know. Even if someone says they are safe, that doesn't mean they aren't leaching something that someone doesn't know about. So I just avoid plastics as much as I can and figure that's the best I can do.

My kids were 3 and 5 when I started this, so I just switched them to our regular dishes. They did ok for the most part, except DS-then-3 seemed to drop a lot of glasses for some reason. I didn't care that they broke (they were oddballs from an old set), but I didn't like cleaning up glass and worrying about if I got it all up, etc. So I bought metal enameled cups from REI for him. If he were still dropping plates and bowls, I'd get some of those from there as well.

I like the wooden bowl idea, too!

It seems like most people I know use plastic dishes much later than age 3-4, but I found that if I made a point of sitting with the kids and teaching them about being careful/gentle with the dishes, that they learned fairly quickly. In fact, I even have DS6 putting the glass plates away, now.

 

[taliasully]

and great answers, I was just worrying about this myself,
I will go today and look for wood or correlle,
I like the camping cup idea too!,
About the storing oils, I saw a guy buying water in those huge glass apple juice bottles, that would work!

 

[yaM yaM]

Depending on what your fare consists of as well as what are the details of the wood-makeup, wood can be a not-so-good alternative. For example, wood dishes are sometimes coated with questionable finishes and/or are sections of wood that are glued together with toxic (but deemed "food-safe"

) substances.

We use glass.

I buy it from the thrift stores and teach my children from the earliest age to be careful with it. Really, it's about cause and effect: like anything else, they can be taught what happens with glass if they're clumsy or careless with it. Also, I'd rather deal with the risk of glass splinters (which is the worst-case-scenario, IME) than the risk of hormone-mimicking chemical exposure to my developing children.

I have memories of my children being so precious and careful with their glass dishes even when 1 1/2 and 2 years old. My son used glass baby bottles for water (with a silicon nipple) and he was so cute about it - he used to wabble-
and-squat down low with his fat diaper on so as to rest the bottle carefully and upright on the floor when he was done drinking from it before he continued on his merry way.

 

[Sparkle*Mama]

We buy our oils/vinegars etc in bulk as well. I put them in glass jars when I get home. I bought cork top bottles from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Also, to replace your childrens plates, check into Bamboo. Greenfeet has some good bamboo products you can check into.

 

[cooltubnoac]

We have used all of the below mentioned dishes for my older son but for my 15 month old I'm using Melanine for his dishes. It's common in Europe and I think their standards are higher than ours for plastics. Crocodile creek has some nice ones.

 

[MomToKandE]

We haven't eliminated all of our plastics but we never heat food in them and we don't usually use them for storage. There's still some exposure but I figure there can't be much leaching in the time it takes to eat a meal.

 

[sweetpeas]

For glass cups for young kids, I use plain old jelly jars (the 1/2 pint size I think) they're sturdy enough that we haven't broken any yet. I also use the correlle mugs & they seem to bounce instead of break too

 

[Kffreedom]

What do you guys use to store your leftovers and such in? We too have been trying to eliminate plastics but this seems to be a trouble spot for us.

 

[mrsalf97]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kffreedom What do you guys use to store your leftovers and such in? We too have been trying to eliminate plastics but this seems to be a trouble spot for us.

We use recycled spaghetti sauce jars (etc.), canning jars, and pyrex glass containers with plastic lids. The plastic lids do not touch the food.

 

[yaM yaM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpeas For glass cups for young kids, I use plain old jelly jars (the 1/2 pint size I think) they're sturdy enough that we haven't broken any yet. I also use the correlle mugs & they seem to bounce instead of break too

Yes, those are very sturdy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsalf97 We use recycled spaghetti sauce jars (etc.), canning jars, and pyrex glass containers with plastic lids. The plastic lids do not touch the food.

:

 

[LLBgal]

I found this site in my search for eliminating plastics... I am having a hard time finding a suitable sippy cup replacer as I am not thrilled with SIGG (I know the aluminum is lined... but psychologically I am having a hard time accepting it) and Klean Kanteen -- I don't know that stainless steel is a ton better with the nickel leaching....

So that leaves us with glass. Ok for at home... but, where to find reusable glass bottles that I can use as a sippy cup???????

:

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[yaM yaM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LLBgal I found this site in my search for eliminating plastics... I am having a hard time finding a suitable sippy cup replacer as I am not thrilled with SIGG (I know the aluminum is lined... but psychologically I am having a hard time accepting it) and Klean Kanteen -- I don't know that stainless steel is a ton better with the nickel leaching.... So that leaves us with glass. Ok for at home... but, where to find reusable glass bottles that I can use as a sippy cup??????? : :

Welcome to MDC!

I agree with you about the SIGG bottles. Linings are actually far less stable than hard plastics even. And I agree with you about the metals, as well. They absolutely still leech (only with metals it's metals instead of plastics!).

Glass is truly the way to go IMO. Are you willing to work with your little one(s) about learning how to be careful with glass?

For travel (or even just travelling around the house), I used washed-out Dr. Tima soda bottles. In case you're unfamiliar, they're a fantastic natural soda (with only honey for sweetner!) available at many health food stores. Anyway, the Dr. Tima bottles are 10 oz. and fit very well in small hands. Also, the glass is quite thick and I've never had one break with both my kids who used them for years.

I attached those little plastic pop top screw-on caps (available for sale at stores that sell water and water bottle supplies and also they come with purchase of <plastic!> store-bought bottled waters) to the tops of the bottles for more spill-proofing ability. I decided that that plastic would be ok from time to time because the liquid is not sitting in the plastic. But, ultimately, I taught them to drink from the bottle's glass top without the pop top.

As far as lids to glass go (for Dr. Tima bottles as well as the 32 oz. juice jars that we wash are re-use, constantly for travel water bottles) - we use cork. I've found larger corks at the hardward store and smaller, various sized corks available at craft stores like Jo Ann's.

 

[yaM yaM]

Oh yeah -

THIS water bottle holder bag holds the 32 oz. glass juice jars perfectly (the ones that we re-use for our water bottles). It has great cushioning, a sturdy adjustable shoulder strap and hides the glass well in the event that we go somewhere where glass usually isn't allowed.

:

 

[MommyErin]

For my DC, I buy salad sized plates of various types at the thrift store. Often I can get ones from Pier 1 or Pottery Barn so they are thick and colorful but if they do get broken, I don't cry over the $.50. I plan to buy new dishes for the whole family later this year and I'm going with Corelle -- break resistant, dishwasher safe, ceramic, inexpensive, and made in the USA. There is even a Corningware outlet about 50 minutes up the road.

We use small glasses (tall skinny juice glasses of approx. 6oz.) I bought at SVDP for $.25 a piece. They had a ton so I bough like 18. I keep them in the basement and have pulled out one when one of the upstairs ones gets broken, which has only happened once in three months. Even my DS has used them well. I've kept 2 sippies each for the time being (Playtex as they are supposed to leach the least of all the mainstream sippies on the market) but I'm hoping to get rid of those within the next month or so.

For their lunches, I bought SIGGs. They can't take glass to school so I figured that was the best bet. I also still use the Gladware containers, again because they can't use glass. I'm going to get some metal containers here soon so I can phase those out too.

For food storage, I use Pyrex glass with lids or hermetic canning jars (which I can find at Goodwill for $1 or less). I just buy new seals, which you can get at the Container store or Sur La Table or the like. Even new ones of a useable size are less than $6 and there is no plastic involved.

For me, I use my Klean Kanteens, which I love. I'm less worried about metals than plastics. That's just me, though. I also have a glass drinking jar that works well too. I still don't trust the kids with one, though. You may want to invest in some of these for drinking out of glass on the go.
Boy do I love the Container Store!!

It's always somethin', ain't it?

:

 

[snozzberry]

Great thread! I don't have anything to add except a link to a by-the-numbers guide to plastics. It comes from Delicious Living, a free magazine at Whole Foods in my area. We try to avoid all plastic as much as possible, though.