Mommy Footprint & Chemical Free Ice Cubes

Deep breath parents!  Summer has ended and a new chapter starts if you’re a parent…back-to-school is here. I discovered a ‘must have’ item this summer, even though I’ve used this stainless steel wonder for years, it really offered me convenience with taking my kids on many full day excursions over the last few months. For this reason – it translates into a great back-to-school convenience option and it took me not having ice-cubes one morning when I went to the farm to realize how important ice cubes are for packing up lunches for my kids. Yes!!  I’m talking about stainless steel ice cube trays and before you think I’ve gone crazy, read why they are so important to my day.

First a picture:

Does it look familiar?  It might remind you of the ice-cube tray your grandma used. Remember hearing the “CRaaaakkkkk” sound when she pulled the handle? The Onyx design is a ‘new take’ on this design, manufactured using high quality 18/8 stainless steel and well made to last many years in your home!

Why would I love a stainless steel ice cube tray this much when there are plenty of light-weight trays on the market made for BPA-free plastic or silicone? I’ve read enough about BPA-free plastic leaching BPA when tested & I don’t freeze anything in plastic because of leaching concerns.  When it comes to silicone it’s my personal preference; I had a bad experience years ago with a skull & cross-bone shaped ice-cube tray that was marketed as silicone. It literally smelled like I opened a new tire when I opened the packaging and I can still remember the bitter taste of the ice-cubes. I would assume this was straight PVC & plasticizers as the ice cube tray was bendy – not the silicon material it was marketed as….but it’s completely turned me off.  Although you’ll pay a bit more for the quality, stainless steel ice cube trays offer no scent, no chemicals to make it bendy, & is easy to clean & maintain.

Okay now back to my story of realizing how much I need ice-cubes on an outing to the farm. This summer we went on lots of excursions to local farms, mountains, and all-day outings. With the heat of the day my standard routine in the morning is packing up a stainless steel water bottle for each child, loading it half way with ice-cubes, the rest tap water. This would ensure the kids still had cold water to drink many hours later (great tip for back-to-school water bottles too).  Running late to get to the farm I realized I didn’t have any ice-cubes for the morning so decided to not bring water with me – no point because it was a blazing hot day. During the course of the day I spent over $12 on bottled water the farm sold ($2 a bottle), had to worry that they’d actually be recycled, and then arrived home to read a great article by TreeHugger on drinking water bottled in plastic. I can’t find that article but here is another great article to support drinking tap water from Treehugger. And after calling my local municipality and finding out we don’t put fluoride & other nasties in our drinking water – it’s worth a read: A World of Reasons to Ditch Bottled Water.

So it was even to my surprise that something like an ice-cube tray could give me so much convenience of using plain old tap water, save me money by not buying disposable water in plastic bottles, and piece of mind that I wasn’t freezing my water with any nasties leaching from the tray. I guess when people say “it’s the simple things in life”…they really know what they’re talking about.

Related Articles:

Alternatives For Freezing Food In Plastic

Finding Food In Glass Jars

I had a great question arrive from Dan who wrote: “I am having a harder and harder time finding foods in glass jars (mayo, vinegar, ketchup, etc.). Can you help with a source?” Thanks for the awesome topic to write about Dan! It instantly reminded me of ‘The Ketchup Riddle’ Rick Smith, co-author of Slow Death By Rubber Duck, writes about. Here is the quote from Slow Death by Rubber Duck that is promoted by a late-night run to the supermarket by Rick:

I stood blinking – staring – at the ketchup selection, honestly perplexed.

~ The organic ketchup came in a plastic bottle.
~ Alymer ketchup, an old Canadian brand made from locally grown tomatoes, also came in plastic.
~ The only option in a glass bottle was the non-organic, non-local Heinz ketchup.

Rick summarized his ketchup paralysis and although I found it entertaining to read, imagine putting this much thought into every product we purchase at the grocery store or mall. It does create a type of paralysis for consumers…even eco-savvy ones. I completely agree with Rick in his summary of this situation that only government action can solve the problem of having to choose between limiting packaging containing plasticizing chemicals or pesticide use, or production of local food. Decisions like this creates huge challenges for consumers that want to make better choices, but run up against all of these questions when purchasing something supposedly easy like ketchup.

Some of you might be wondering why Dan is trying to find food that is packaged in glass. The plastic packaging that surrounds our food can contain plasticizers and other chemicals. Food packaging and chemicals like BPA and Phthalates have been very newsworthy lately. This article isn’t aimed to scare you, but we need to be aware that although chemicals like phthalates are starting to be regulated in toys, there isn’t regulation for food packaging because government and large companies don’t think the trace amounts found in packaging is enough to warrant concern. But savvy green consumers are looking for better options. We know that those squeezable plastic bottles that we purchase our condiments contain plasticizers. We know that you cannot find a tin can in your traditional grocery store that doesn’t contains an epoxy liner – containing BPA – that separates the food or liquid from the aluminum can. Lead in juice boxes, produce and meat counters that place our food on styrofoam and wrap in PVC wrap to ensure ‘freshness’ …the list goes on and on. It seems that plastic is most often the material that touches our food and for numerous reasons regularity discussed at Mommy Footprint, we are trying to avoid this – for human health improvement and for the environment. So after saying all this, the easiest way to avoid food that is packaged in plastic is to avoid heavily packaged foods. Don’t worry, this isn’t my only suggestion for Dan, but when you start shopping with a heightened awareness of packaging, little lightbulbs start going off in your heads and even better if you drop a few hints at your local grocer. They have the power to order our favorite condiments in glass jars – it might be the first time they are asked. Take a closer look at what you purchase. I love the example of cheese strings and yogurt tubes. They are a favorite snack item brought out at preschools and lunches in schools all across America. Cheese strings are sold in completely plasticized packaging…right up against the cheese! Once it’s pulled away, you can tell the outside of the cheese string has been effected…it’s rubbery. You are telling me that packaging hasn’t effected the quality of this product? Another is yogurt tubes that are again packaged in plasticized plastic, but then as a treat, many parents pop them in the freezer to serve the yogurt frozen! So we are taking another product containing plasticizers and then weakening the packaging by placing them in the freezer before given them to children to eat. Gross. And yes, I did used to buy and love the convenience of yogurt tubes, but haven’t purchased them in years because of the issue of packaging. I would hope the power of my consumerism helps to drive change even with a basic item such as yogurt.

On to better choices with food and packaging. It does seem to be hit and miss in large grocers with items like ketchup, mayo, etc. and glass containers. I’ve purchased them before but it’s not a guaranteed offering. Visiting a store like Whole Foods will open up many options to you, but here are two that I’ve found online that offer not only better options with the packaging of products they sell, but improving the quality of the food.

Tropical Traditions
Leading the way with their vast line of coconut oil (my new favorite product) this company has a big commitment to understanding how the products they carry are produced and manufactured. I found many organic vinegars, oils, etc. on this site and many are packaged in glass. I thought the products listed under Organic Food category might be helpful for the everyday consumer. This site’s knowledge of coconut oil benefits is amazing and I recently started following their Fan page on Facebook. Lots of great information there!

Eden Organic
We’ve talked about Eden Organic before, we love their commitment to packaging their beans in tin cans, without using BPA in the can lining. The food, not surprising, is sourced with supporting organic farmers and providing consumers options that are wheat-free, gluten-free, low in sodium, etc. Funny the parallel in healthy food and better packaging options?! Going through the Eden site, I found juices, sauces, butter, oils, vinegars, tomato products that are packaged in amber glass rather than plastic.

We do seem to have options. They are not endless like the contemporary brands found at traditional grocery stores. Voice your concerns regarding packaging and your food. We are continually talking about making better choices with the food we buy: local, organic, GMO-free, etc. Let’s think about how those products are stored and packaged because trace amounts of chemicals leaching into my food is something I’m concerned about. Stop purchasing food that is packaged in soft plastic and cans and tell your grocery manager why you’ve made this decision. You’ve left the decision in their hands where you’ve decided to spend your money – hopefully these decisions will help inspire change.

Related Articles:

A Plastic Rant

PVC Items In Your Everyday Life

Confused About Phthalate-Free?

Confused about the latest buzz phrase parents?  Welcome to the new BPA-free world of marketing and labeling. You know how you see BPA-free stamped on every kind of plastic sippy cup or baby product these days?  Well move over BPA-free..with Canada banning 6 major phthalates in June (a few States have already banned these phthalates) you are about to see – and I’ve already noticed lots of branding and marketing for phthalate-free toys.  Why?  Now that the government has intervened, manufacturers and retailers are taking action to restrict phthalates from being added to soften vinyl in children’s toys and child car articles.  Yes this is great!  But I’ve seen a few examples of this warning being mis-interpreted by parents because there are other toxic chemicals that can be used to make vinyl or PVC soft other than phthalates.  And when a parent sees the wording ‘non-toxic’ and ‘phthalate-free’ but the toy is still made from toxic material…is this not a form of green washing at it’s best?  It saddens me that parents and consumers will be making purchases thinking they are making a very safe purchase for the environment and their children when this just isn’t the case.

I know, as I’m typing this I know I sounds like a real downer.  My country is making this great change and I’m not happy. I guess I’m jaded and a wee bitter because we’ve seen this pure marketing opportunity for business to flourish with each ‘milestone’ the government makes with banning toxic chemicals. Just remember when jewelry was marked ‘lead-free’ because it was newsworthy, but manufactures started using cadmium. I’ve read article after article that BPA can leach at room temperature (no high heats required) making it a chemical that should just not be used in any product…not just for babies.  And products marked BPA-free have been tested to contain it anyways. Now my fear for parents is seeing phthalate-free stamped on toys and children gimmicks and think they are safe.  I’m sorry, but they are not!  Most of the products being stamped with phthalate-free are soft plastic toys and they are made with PVC.  This terrible, toxic material cannot be softened without a chemical being added (plasticizers) and phthalates aren’t the only one that can do this. Do not purchase phthalate-free products that are made from soft plastic unless they also say PVC-free.  The closest products that come to mind for this type of greenwashing are bath toys for children, gag soothers, teethers, baby toys.  I went to many high end stores in my neighborhood (we aren’t talking dollar stores) and everyone was carrying ‘phthalate-free’ bath toys that are made from PVC.  We all know babies and children are going to put these in their mouth so why market them as safe?  It really bothers me and it’s why I’ve taken a break from writing over the last week. Sometimes I feel like the baby steps we are taking to protect our children become a marketing opportunity and it really bothers me. But at the same time there are so many companies, manufacturers, and retailers doing this it’s not fair to point fingers at one or two companies.  If you are confused if your baby products are non-toxic – you are welcome to ask on the Mommy Footprint Facebook fan page. We need to work together as consumers.  The true mission here is to keep asking questions so that stores will be accountable for what they sell.  I spent hours on the phone trying to talk with an appropriate person at Toys R Us to ask why they continue to sell vinyl and products made from PVC to babies.  A company like this could really make a difference because they are huge!  They have the resources to hire experts to decipher what truly safe baby products and toys are for children – but I can’t get a call back.  It’s disheartening when you want to work with a company to help change what our children are exposed to.  Really, only a company like Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, etc. can make a decision to ban certain materials they sell and have a big enough ripple effect to actually make a change. They carry the same or more power than our government with these decisions. Walmart announced they have banned polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) a widely available flame retardant that has mass outreach that is found in breastmilk to our food supply and is known to be toxic for human health. Walmart played leap-frog over government and although their business practices and certainly not always in support of local & green products, it shows the power of these huge big box stores. Imagine if they were to ban PVC. They wouldn’t have much to sell on their store shelves as far as toys and sporting equipment, but wouldn’t it be nice shopping without all the questions!?

So many articles in a short period of time on PVC, but we need to shop informed. Let’s stop giving our money to the stores that really don’t care about our kid’s health and the environment and support the ones that do. Below is a picture of the only rubber duckie I’ll currently buy. I borrowed this picture from The Soft Landing that sells these Boon Bath Toys. They are BPA-free, Phthalate-free, and PVC-free. I’m assuming they are made from natural rubber but funny enough I couldn’t get this information from the Boon site. Yes, a high end bath toy has finally hit the market and yes, we are not used to paying $6 for one rubber duck, but we’ve learned that quality is key – not cost. Kids don’t need 10 bath toys – 1 safer option will do and this model doesn’t have a hole in the bottom so there isn’t a mold concern either.

Greener Birthday Parties for Older Kids

While the party is still fresh in my mind and I’ve embraced the fact another year has passed (all too quickly) for another one of my children, I wanted to write an article about hosting a greener party for older kids. I have to say the planning, execution, and green factor (being high!) from this party was very easy this year. Yes, it’s our 3rd year of hosting green parties for our children, including asking for donations in lieu of gifts, but there was no big meltdown (on my part) this year so I wanted to make some realistic recommendations to help parents trying to plan greener parties or celebrations.

When I think or say ‘greener birthday party’ or ‘eco-friendly birthday party’ a vision of children sitting around dying play dough with vegetables as the craft, eating raw/organics and picking up garbage as the activity often comes to mind. This is a lovely concept, but more realistic for younger children. The older kids get, they are picky and want to enforce their opinions on details and activities for their party..this is why things can often get expensive.  This past weekend we hosted Angelo’s 7th birthday party at a local rec centre (no I wasn’t up to the task of having 15 hyper boys in my house with only me to entertain them) and they had a teen room that is reserved during weeknights as a teen centre. The room is equipped with a Ping Pong & Pool Table, Foosball, Air Hockey, Basketball dual game, and a Wii system. There was also a party host that took them to the gym for an hour to play floor hockey and soccer. The key…these boy party guests stayed active, active, active!  The kids left the party having exercised and played with lots of different partners in the party room with the fun activities.

So the venue rocked and was very easy for my husband and I. A few other things I found easy:

Sent the annual Evite to save on paper invitations and hurt feelings from any children that weren’t invited to the party when paper invitations are passed around a classroom.

Used Angelo’s name banner for the 2nd year…best decoration for a child’s room and birthday party from my company Green Planet Parties. Besides for the tablecloth, this is the only decoration needed in this party room – everyone loved it.

My boys are crazy for Harry Potter so rather than host a Harry Potter themed party – we used understated wizard magic with the loot bags. They were cloth camouflage bags that contained organic candy, wooden wizard wands, and grey felt beards (so everyone can be like Dumbledore) once they are home. I have to say, the last guest to leave had the best reaction ever to the loot bags. He opened the bag and took out the wand and screamed “really? You got me my very own wand?” It was just awesome….anyone that believes boys need plastic, battery operated toys to be happy is frankly mistaken.

Brought in earth friendly tableware. I used palm leaf plates, corn cups and put all party guests names on them so they only used one throughout the party, used wooden cutlery, and recycled napkins. The facility where we hosted the party doesn’t have curb-side pickup for food waste so we packed up all the food waste and compostable tableware and brought it home with us to compost.  It was very easy.

For the third year Angelo hosted a donation party and asked his friends to bring a donation rather than a gift. He is a very green little guy and sees the value in helping a charity and knows that the amount of packaging that will be saved from toys and gift wrap is important. It really helps cut down on unrecyclable plastic when you ask children not to bring gifts to a party. We left the party with just envelopes because most of the kids made their own cards. In previous years, Angelo has helped Endangered Animals because it’s a concept younger children love – helping animals. This year, Angelo decided to give 1/2 of his party donations to Cancer Research because our family lost my father-in-law last year to a courageous battle to cancer so it’s a new cause that is close to their hearts. Donation parties really help empower children because they are making decisions (sometimes for the first time) with where their money is going – it gives them confidence and makes them proud.

For the first time in a long time, I simply just enjoyed the party. I wasn’t running around like a crazy person…I had support and help and got to enjoy the 3 hours, taking pictures and playing games with the kids.

I may be the owner of Green Planet Parties, but I’m not perfect and have a few areas to improve next year.  I love the convenience of supermarket cakes…I really don’t enjoy baking and know I’m not capable of pulling off a Harry Potter cake on my own, but knowing the icing is made from loads of artificial colors and the toys on top of the cake are made with PVC, doesn’t make me feel great. The convenience is wonderful…but I’d love to find another solution. There are lots of smaller cupcake, cookie, cake pop bakers in every community that are making these items from scratch and are probably more healthy than the supermarket. One person I’ve become friends with on Twitter is Event Envy. Not only is this mompreneur witty and friendly on social media, but her cakes and cake pops are incredible! My new favorite from her site is the Ruffle Cake!

Besides for the cake ‘fail’ I also brought juice boxes to the party. We did use water pitchers with the corn cups instead of plastic water bottles, but didn’t have enough containers to serve juice. The centre had recycling facilities and took care of the juice boxes but I would eliminate these for next time.

Ohhh just remembered I used beeswax candles on the birthday cake rather than petroleum based.  Maybe I just earned a point back?  <smile>

I wanted to write a post that anyone can follow regarding hosting greener birthday parties for children of any age. It’s still very possible (easy in fact) and doesn’t need to be this incredibly stressful occasion for parents. It should be enjoyable and fun….it is a party after-all!  Hmmmm next party is for my 4 year old twin daughters so everything might change trying to balance the ‘princess’ wishes they’ve been talking about.  That’s okay…I have a few ideas of my own how to keep their party green, fun, and girlie!  Wish me luck.

New, locally handmade items are arriving for Green Planet Parties. Join us on Facebook via the Fan Page so you don’t miss any of these new additions.

Pssst Plastic & Melamine – Can We Talk?

I guess it truly doesn’t matter how many times I write or acknowledge in my head that certain every-day actions are not healthy, if it’s convenient and saves me time, I seem to fall into the ‘convenience’ trap. And this is one reason I struggle and dislike plastic so much. After all plastic was created to save us time and money since this material was so much cheaper than glass and more ‘durable’ (doesn’t break as easily). Plastic is a man-made material that has been polluting our bodies since it’s creation because of untested chemicals and regulations, but still we are all addicted to using it. The alternatives are so much more expensive, heavy, and not as durable with breakage, etc.  Right?  So why do we need to break the habits of purchasing and using so much plastic?  We are hurting ourselves….and in some cases killing ourselves with all of these man-made ‘convenience’ based chemicals. I believe that even though you can purchase BPA-free plastic that unless the plastic is cared for properly, chemicals will leach out.  It doesn’t matter who you ask – if you purchase plastic sippy cups, bottles, cups, bowls, plates, colanders, food/liquid containers, ice cube trays, etc., about how to care for a plastic item they will tell you not to put it in the dishwasher or microwave. Why is that?  Because the material of plastic is not strong enough to not ‘breakdown’ in these machines; therefore, chemicals will leach through cracks, scratches, etc. My weakness since becoming a mom is always trying to purchase items that are dishwasher friendly because I love the time the dishwasher saves me and I readily know this about myself.  What are materials that are dishwasher safe and don’t leach? Stainless steel, glass, enamelware, and glassware (Corelle) are good places to start.  So although I’ve been pretty good over the last 2 years of ridding my kitchen of most plastic there are a few items that won’t be coming on my journey into 2011. I finally have enough glass and stainless steel cups that my IKEA plastic tumblers are being retired to the back of my kitchen cupboard. Yes, they are BPA free – but they are beat-up and worn making them very poor candidates for the dishwasher. I will not miss you, although you have served me very well over the years.  All my pans, storage / freezing containers are stainless steel, bake ware is glass, and utensils are stainless steel so I’m almost plastic-free. I also, of course, have stainless steel ice-cube trays and popsicle molds because I’ve always been uncomfortable freezing in plastic.

So what is my message in this article?  Try to not heat food or liquid in plastic or clean plastic in the dishwasher. . . the convenience is great but heating plastic at high temperatures is not healthy for your family. And while we are on this topic, I noticed that Melamine dishware being advertised for babies and young children over the holidays. The same rules go for Melamine as plastic since this synthetic polymer is created with formaldehyde. Although these Melamine dishes can be marketed as ‘BPA-free’ ….I don’t think parents want formaldehyde leaching into their children’s food either as Melamine by itself cannot be consumed.  Follow the rules of using these materials and you’re probably okay. But in a world of tempting convenience I always smile towards the trends that were around before the age of plastic.  It’s taken over 2 years to get to the point where I can retire my plastic kitchenware so don’t feel overwhelmed if this is one of your goals. Little by little….it can be done.

Happy New Year everyone!  I look forward to sharing more ‘greener’ journeys together in 2011. You are welcome to email me questions or post comments to the Mommy Footprint Facebook fan page.