Making Life Greener – Put Down the Plastic

Last week I posted on the latest report raising questions about bisphenol-A and mentioned that we’ve been making changes to protect our girls from exposure to this chemical. As promised, here is more about that topic.

Limiting our family’s exposure to bisphenol-A, also known as BPA, was important to us because it has been linked to several health issues. BPA mimics estrogen in the body and is a known endocrine disrupter. Increases in breast and other cancers, increases in insulin resistance, and early puberty for girls have all been associated with exposure to BPA. As I’ve mentioned before, the girls have inherited a strong family history of cancer so we want to reduce their exposure to carcinogens. Diabetes is also in their family medical history so we had multiple reasons for concern.

After some research, we realized that one of the easiest changes we could make would be to replace our plastic cups with a BPA-free alternative. BPA is in many plastic and polycarbonate cups and bottles. Studies have shown that BPA can leach from these products into the food and drinks they house, especially if the plastic has been heated or scratched. Since we wash our dishes in the dishwasher, all our sippy cups were being heated regularly. The cups also went everywhere with us so were bound to end up scratched and battered. Strike two, they were out.

After some research, we found Klean Kanteens. These water bottles are made completely out of food-grade stainless steel so there was no lining to worry us. They come in a variety of sizes so we could match the water bottle to the individual. Klean Kanteen also offers stainless steel caps so nothing plastic touches our water. The loop cap is especially handy for little hands or when driving. We’ve had our Klean Kanteens for several months now and are very happy with these reusable, recyclable, BPA-free water bottles!

For a helpful overview of the issues around BPA, visit the bisphenol-A section of Our Stolen Future. They provide links to recent research as well as clear descriptions of the chemicals they are discussing. Their book of the same name is also available at Amazon.

I’ll talk about other changes to reduce your family’s exposure to BPA in future articles.

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