I don't have much time right now, but I thought I'd add a quick update.
I've gotten rid of my plastic cutting boards! Yay! I found a pair of Canadian maple wood cutting boards at Costco for about $15 total. They're really nice!
I'm also in the process of getting rid of all of my canned goods. No more BPA! Only problem is, what do I do with it all? I want to donate it, but then, am I passing the buck? I feel bad! But then, food pantries WANT canned goods, right? Oh, the dilemma!
I also got my Frontier co-op order from The Mamas co-op. Really awesome stuff! I got some organic fruit and veggie wash, some Earth Mama Angel Baby body wash/shampoo for Jesse, some natural deoderant for myself, some non-toxic make-up, some Kiss My Face toothpaste and hand soap for Jesse, and lot of other good stuff. I also got my EcoNuts natural laundry detergent. I'll have to take a picture later to show you.
I also just placed another order with Lands End for an organic cotton blanket for Jesse's bed. Until the end of today, you can get 25% off one item with free shipping. The blanket that would have cost $90 only cost me $60.
In other news, I still haven't gotten around to finishing Jesse's wool mattress protector. I have to figure out what to do with it. I'll probably just cut it to the size of the mattress and hem over the edges. I'll definitely post pictures when it's done!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Avoiding BPA
Getting back to the Top 10 Ways to Detoxify, I thought I'd pick something that's relatively quick and easy. So here's to #4: Avoid plastics with Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A, or simply BPA, is a known hormone disruptor. According to Toxic Nation, studies have linked low-dose BPA exposure with such effects as: permanent changes to genital tract; increase prostate weight; decline in testosterone; breast cells predisposed to cancer; prostate cells more sensitive to hormones and cancer; and hyperactivity. You can watch the CBC's documentary The Disappearing Male for a more in-depth description of the effect BPA (and other chemicals, such as phthalates) are having on our world.
The first step in ridding your home of as much BPA as possible is to identify which items in your home contain BPA. It is used to make polycarbonate plastic food and beverage containers, plastic food wrap, and epoxy resins that are used to line metal cans for food. Look on the bottom of your polycarbonate plastic food and beverage containers. If they are labelled with recycling symbol #7 they may contain BPA. The BPA in these containers leaches from the plastic, particularly when the container is heated, or when the plastic becomes scratched.
One common source of BPA in the homes of young families has been plastic baby bottles. Early on, I stocked up on Avent bottles to go with my Avent Isis hand pump. All of it contained BPA. When Jesse was just a few months old, a report was published linking BPA to adverse health effects. Stores in Canada then voluntarily removed all BPA-containing baby bottles from their shelves, and many stores offered refunds on BPA containing bottles. I returned all of ours. Since then, the federal government has taken steps to ensure that baby bottles no longer contain BPA. You can find out more information about Canada's BPA regulations here. If you need to use formula, or give your child breastmilk in a bottle, there are now many BPA free plastic baby bottles on the market, or you have the option of using glass baby bottles. I'm personally a fan of Born Free bottles. They have both BPA free plastic and glass options. They are quite pricey though. If you're on a tighter budget, you might want to try the Evenflo glass bottles. They're quite good, and a fraction of the cost of Born Free. (And they have the added benefit of fitting on Medela and Ameda breast pumps.) When your child moves on to a sippy cup, stainless steel is a great option. We like the Safe Sippy. It's much less breakable than glass for your kiddo on the move.
Replacing other BPA containers in your home is also fairly easy. You can replace your BPA containing water bottle with a BPA free plastic bottle, or go with stainless steel yourself. You can also replace your plastic food containers with glass. If they have plastic lids, ensure they are made of a safe plastic (I'll get to this later). You can also make sure the lids do not touch your food, and don't place them in the microwave or dishwasher. And it should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway - don't place them in the oven either, since they'll melt.
As for canned foods, you'll want to avoid as many of those as possible. Use fresh or frozen fruits and veggies, rather than canned. They taste better and are better for you. Many soups can now be found in juice-type boxes. You can find many sauces now in glass bottles. Beans can be bought dried (and as I found out last night, they're quite easy to prepare!) Or, if you can find them in your area, use Eden Foods BPA-free canned goods.There are so many options out there!
And since BPA isn't the only harmful chemical found in plastic, I thought I'd throw this in here too. Care2 has a handy little chart of the different plastics, what they are, and how they compare (bad, OK, good). Read it, take note of it, and make sure you check any plastics you bring into your home.
If you're looking to replace plastic food and beverage containers, check your local stores to see what they have. I've found great success at Canadian Tire for glass food containers. I also check Green Baby Bargains daily as they often sell Safe Sippys and other safe food and beverage containers for children at greatly reduced prices. Life Without Plastic has a great selection of various plastic alternatives. They ship from both Canada and the US, so you can avoid paying customs fees for these. If anyone knows of any other great options, please let me know in the comments section and I'll add it in.
The first step in ridding your home of as much BPA as possible is to identify which items in your home contain BPA. It is used to make polycarbonate plastic food and beverage containers, plastic food wrap, and epoxy resins that are used to line metal cans for food. Look on the bottom of your polycarbonate plastic food and beverage containers. If they are labelled with recycling symbol #7 they may contain BPA. The BPA in these containers leaches from the plastic, particularly when the container is heated, or when the plastic becomes scratched.
One common source of BPA in the homes of young families has been plastic baby bottles. Early on, I stocked up on Avent bottles to go with my Avent Isis hand pump. All of it contained BPA. When Jesse was just a few months old, a report was published linking BPA to adverse health effects. Stores in Canada then voluntarily removed all BPA-containing baby bottles from their shelves, and many stores offered refunds on BPA containing bottles. I returned all of ours. Since then, the federal government has taken steps to ensure that baby bottles no longer contain BPA. You can find out more information about Canada's BPA regulations here. If you need to use formula, or give your child breastmilk in a bottle, there are now many BPA free plastic baby bottles on the market, or you have the option of using glass baby bottles. I'm personally a fan of Born Free bottles. They have both BPA free plastic and glass options. They are quite pricey though. If you're on a tighter budget, you might want to try the Evenflo glass bottles. They're quite good, and a fraction of the cost of Born Free. (And they have the added benefit of fitting on Medela and Ameda breast pumps.) When your child moves on to a sippy cup, stainless steel is a great option. We like the Safe Sippy. It's much less breakable than glass for your kiddo on the move.
Replacing other BPA containers in your home is also fairly easy. You can replace your BPA containing water bottle with a BPA free plastic bottle, or go with stainless steel yourself. You can also replace your plastic food containers with glass. If they have plastic lids, ensure they are made of a safe plastic (I'll get to this later). You can also make sure the lids do not touch your food, and don't place them in the microwave or dishwasher. And it should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway - don't place them in the oven either, since they'll melt.
As for canned foods, you'll want to avoid as many of those as possible. Use fresh or frozen fruits and veggies, rather than canned. They taste better and are better for you. Many soups can now be found in juice-type boxes. You can find many sauces now in glass bottles. Beans can be bought dried (and as I found out last night, they're quite easy to prepare!) Or, if you can find them in your area, use Eden Foods BPA-free canned goods.There are so many options out there!
And since BPA isn't the only harmful chemical found in plastic, I thought I'd throw this in here too. Care2 has a handy little chart of the different plastics, what they are, and how they compare (bad, OK, good). Read it, take note of it, and make sure you check any plastics you bring into your home.
If you're looking to replace plastic food and beverage containers, check your local stores to see what they have. I've found great success at Canadian Tire for glass food containers. I also check Green Baby Bargains daily as they often sell Safe Sippys and other safe food and beverage containers for children at greatly reduced prices. Life Without Plastic has a great selection of various plastic alternatives. They ship from both Canada and the US, so you can avoid paying customs fees for these. If anyone knows of any other great options, please let me know in the comments section and I'll add it in.
Baa!
So my laundry room smells like I drowned a sheep in the washing machine. Yep, you've guessed it - I've finally gotten around to felting and lanolinizing the wool Army blanket I bought. It went well. I think. I guess I won't really know for sure until the first time Jesse wets the bed. If the mattress stays dry then this will have been a success!
In case you're wondering exactly what I did, either out of sheer curiousity (pun not intended) or because you might be interested in trying to do the same thing, here are the deets:
You start with a 100% wool blanket. I bought an Army blanket off eBay for around $40, shipping included.
It really needed to be washed, since there were pet hairs all over it. And well, that's part of the felting and lanolinizing process anyway. (Please beware - DO NOT treat other woollens like this! This is ONLY if you want to felt them!) So I stuck it in the washing machine on warm, but added a bunch of hot water as well, since you need temperature variation. I couldn't find my wool wash (argh!) so I just used a small amount of my regular green laundry detergent.
I let it wash and then go through a cold rinse cycle. This was the result - CLEAN!
AND FELTED!
Then it was time to lanolinize. If you've used wool diaper covers, this process will be somewhat familiar to you. I filled the washing machine again but with tepid water this time. And I located my lanolinizing tools.
Yes, that's Lansinoh lanolin (left over from those first weeks of breastfeeding) and a (gasp!) plastic water bottle. I half filled the water bottle with very hot tap water and added a decent amount of lanolin.
I put the top on, and I shook it like a polaroid picture. Seriously, you have to shake the sh!t out of that stuff to make sure lanolin is thoroughly suspended in the hot water. Then I added the water and lanolin mixture to the now filled washing machine.
I swooshed the water around with my hands, to make sure the lanolin was mixed throughout. Then I made sure the washing macine was shut off and left the blanket to soak all day. When I came back, I put the washing machine through a delicate cycle and spun it out.
I then laid out some old towels on the laundry room floor, doubled the blanket over twice, laid another towel on top of it, and then rolled it up.
To make sure I got as much water out of the blanket as possible, I walked along the rolled blanket-towel combo. Then I laid the blanket over a drying rack.
And then I swept up all the woolies off of the floor. I should have taken a picture of that too! It looked like I had shorn a green sheep in there! And I'm still going to have to take a lint brush to the blanket.
When it's finished drying, I'm going to decide what to do with it. I'll probably cut it to the size of Jesse's mattress and sew over the edges. I don't think I need to sew it to fit down over the mattress, like a typical mattress cover does. But we'll see how it goes.
There you have it. A natural waterproof (water resistant?) mattress cover. I'll let you know if it works sometime in the next year or so.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Out with the old, in with the new
Sorry I haven't updated lately. There's been a lot of stuff going on with Jesse and getting stuff lined up for his therapies and such. I've been so busy. But I needed to post to share my progress this past week.
My Paderno order came in the mail! I'm so happy! (Though rather pissed at the Purolator dude who just left the box on my step without bothering to even ring the door bell, but anyway...). So I washed it all up and then rounded up all of the plastic crap in my kitchen I was able to get rid of. So here it is.
Also note that I found these awesome stainless steel tongs at Winners to replace the plastic ones I used to have. Of course, our new glass containers do have plastic covers, but they're safe plastics, they won't be touching our food, and they won't be going in the dishwasher or microwave.
Also, Jesse's two new organic cotton sheet sets from Land's End came last week (again left on the step by the Purolator dude). I'm really impressed with the quality! They're very well made. They aren't overly soft though. More "crisp." Though I kind of like crisp sheets. I hope Jesse does too since he'll be sleeping on them! And the used wool Army blanket I bought off of eBay came today. I'll be washing that and lanolinizing it tomorrow, hopefully! I'll try to take some pics to post and let you all know how it goes. Then it'll probably take a couple of days to dry. I'm hoping to have it in place, on Jesse's bed, by the weekend. I already got rid of the cheap, vinyl-lined waterproof mattress cover that used to be on his bed. There's only a thin cotton quilt under his bed sheets right now. Hopefully we won't have any leaky diapers between now and when I get that wool blanket on his bed!
I really want to get moving and replace more of Jesse's bedding and our own, since Jesse spends so much time in our room. But I really have to restrain myself, since this stuff costs money! In a couple of weeks we'll be able to order Jesse's mattress protector and organic cotton pillow. I'd also like to get him an organic cotton blanket from Land's End. I got a coupon in the mail from them recently (sign up for their e-mail offers and free catalogues to receive these!) so I'll be able to save money there as well. I'm still looking for nice organic cotton bedding for Steve and I though. These isn't much selection out there. I'll keep looking though. I'm sure I'll find something I like soon.
I need to move on to some of the other Ways to Detoxify as well. I'll soon have 4 days off in a row (over the weekend) so hopefully I have a chance to catch up then.
My Paderno order came in the mail! I'm so happy! (Though rather pissed at the Purolator dude who just left the box on my step without bothering to even ring the door bell, but anyway...). So I washed it all up and then rounded up all of the plastic crap in my kitchen I was able to get rid of. So here it is.
The Old
The New
Also note that I found these awesome stainless steel tongs at Winners to replace the plastic ones I used to have. Of course, our new glass containers do have plastic covers, but they're safe plastics, they won't be touching our food, and they won't be going in the dishwasher or microwave.
Also, Jesse's two new organic cotton sheet sets from Land's End came last week (again left on the step by the Purolator dude). I'm really impressed with the quality! They're very well made. They aren't overly soft though. More "crisp." Though I kind of like crisp sheets. I hope Jesse does too since he'll be sleeping on them! And the used wool Army blanket I bought off of eBay came today. I'll be washing that and lanolinizing it tomorrow, hopefully! I'll try to take some pics to post and let you all know how it goes. Then it'll probably take a couple of days to dry. I'm hoping to have it in place, on Jesse's bed, by the weekend. I already got rid of the cheap, vinyl-lined waterproof mattress cover that used to be on his bed. There's only a thin cotton quilt under his bed sheets right now. Hopefully we won't have any leaky diapers between now and when I get that wool blanket on his bed!
I really want to get moving and replace more of Jesse's bedding and our own, since Jesse spends so much time in our room. But I really have to restrain myself, since this stuff costs money! In a couple of weeks we'll be able to order Jesse's mattress protector and organic cotton pillow. I'd also like to get him an organic cotton blanket from Land's End. I got a coupon in the mail from them recently (sign up for their e-mail offers and free catalogues to receive these!) so I'll be able to save money there as well. I'm still looking for nice organic cotton bedding for Steve and I though. These isn't much selection out there. I'll keep looking though. I'm sure I'll find something I like soon.
I need to move on to some of the other Ways to Detoxify as well. I'll soon have 4 days off in a row (over the weekend) so hopefully I have a chance to catch up then.
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