hey all ... just wanted to pop my head in and say happy earth day! and a great big Thank You for those of you reading and praising my new blog. I don't think too highly of it yet, as I've just started my dive into more simple living, but it's nice to be encouraged while I have one foot in the door. The blog, I'm sure, will get better and more detailed/introspective with time. It's a nice departure to have a separate blog from my LiveJournal, where i write about everything under the sun pertaining to my life. Here, I can just write about the sun. ; ) Really, though, because this is something i become more passionate about on a daily basis, it's good to separate this chunk of my life and really begin to develop it as i grow, both as a "consumer" of modern living, and as a philosopher of sorts.
I have been doing a lot of reading lately about plastics, and wanted to share both some disturbing articles about the proliferation of this popular food/drink storage trend, and some healthier alternatives. Please pay close attention especially from now on to the recycle symbol (three arrows in a triangle) on the bottom of your plastic containers. If the numbe inside that triangle is 3, 6, or 7, please please recycle it and find another alternative to your storage. I recently learned that my much-beloved Nalgene water bottles have probably been leaching plastic into my drink, and have resigned myself to discarding (i.e. recycling) them. Of course, though plastic numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5 are "safer," we should strive to store things in glass or ceramic whenever possible. For those with children, I've put some good glass/ceramic alternatives here (i.e. the sandwich wrapper). And I've also learned to get your cheeses or meats away from plastic wrap the second they've been purchased, wrapping them instead in biodegradable, unbleached wax paper.
So without further ado, here are the links:
In honor of Earth Day, which is today, I couldn't resist sending these links to everyone, if only for your own personal information. please feel free to forward them to friends.
enjoy the links below .... happy earth day!
Karen
http://www.shaklee.com/index.shtml (we use the cleaning products in our school ... i highly recommend them to you - they are super-concentrated so you use much much less, organic, and come in biodegradable packaging)
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/wrapnmat-p-2.html# (this link has a really cool, kid-friendly sandwich wrapper for only $7!! I prefer the red gingham myself).
http://www.kleankanteen.com/ (they have kid-sized bottles, too!)
http://www.newbornfree.com/ (good baby bottle link)
http://www.momblognetwork.com/content/bpa-free-plates-cups-and-utensils-kids
the last page of this article has some decent tips:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa
and here are some of my reasons for going yet more green:
http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/plastic.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041501753_pf.html (definitely read this one)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/nalgene
nice thoughts.. thanks for posting / reminding me of the plastic issue. i switched over to a stainless steel waterbottle when my plastic one broke, myself. i went with the NPR "green kanteen" so i could support NPR and drink healthier at the same time. same reason i almost never bring food i need to rewarm (in the microwave- yuck) to work. i only really have plastic containers, yuck.. still not sure what else to use to store my food. but, alas, i do make my sun tea - with no use of electricity - in a glass mason jar out on the porch (or out on the farm!) all day. it's such a rewarding drink after patiently waiting for it all day. :)
ReplyDeletehappiest earth day to you, fairest citizen of the world. love you!!
Hey! I don't know if you know about this site already, but I thought you'd appreciate it if not: http://www.localharvest.org/
ReplyDeletexoxo!