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Greening Up 101

Learning to Go Green One Day at a Time

Is There MUCK in Your Kid’s Cup?

Posted on March 18, 2013May 2, 2013

I want to know that when I give my kids water, they are drinking water…not water laced with toxic chemicals. I can honestly say I’d never thought a thing about what kind of cup I drank out of until I had kids. When my first child was born, the very first bit of hype was coming out about BPA and most parents didn’t know a thing about “Bisphenol A” and didn’t care. Luckily for me a friend strongly recommended a brand of bottles that were BPA free and thus started my quest to learn more and find muck-free cups, sippys and bottles for my little one.

So what is Bispenol A? It’s an industrial chemical found in certain plastics, including plastics that store food and drink, toys, the linings of canned food, and even some of our cash register receipts among many other things. So BPA is very hard to avoid.

Beyond that, research has shown that BPA can seep into our bodies from touching products that contain it as well as into our food and drink. It’s a known endocrine disruptor, is linked to reproductive disorders and is thought to be especially harmful for children. One possible side effect is early puberty in children. For some further info on the harmful effects of BPA, here’s an eye opening article from Medical News Today, where I got the following quote.

A CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) study found 95% of adult human urine samples and 93% of samples in children had bisphenol A.

Scary, right? I personally don’t want my kids drinking out of beverage containers or playing with toys that contain BPA. Thankfully, many states have take proactive action on BPA and have banned them from children’s products and some states are taking steps to ban them from products that contain consumer goods. Stores like Babies R Us refuse to carry bottles and sippy cups that contain Bisphenol A. Good for you, Babies R Us! It’s a start and a better place than we were in a few years ago.

However, as a mom, I’m still mad! Even when I go into a major retailer, that has effectively stopped carrying stuff with BPA, what about other known harmful chemicals and carcinogens in plastic? What about Pthalates? Lead? PVC? What about all those other chemicals I don’t even know to look out for?
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Why in the world does a parent have to HUNT and HUNT for a product that’s not going to hurt our kids? And what about the parents who don’t know to ask the questions? Who haven’t been informed or who trust that if it’s on the shelf it must be ok? What about the many families in our nation who can’t afford a $20 muck free sippy cup and are stuck purchasing the cheapest plastic out there?!?!
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I don’t want to live my life scared of the next chemical on the block, but I do want to be proactive in doing what I can to protect my kiddos. There are some “better” plastics out there that you can buy as well as some great stainless steel and glass products. Here’s a list of safer alternatives to most of the plastic cups you’ll find on the shelfs.
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  • SafeSippy by Kid Basix
  • LifeFactory
  • Foogo Stainless
  • Klean Kanteen
  • Pura
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I currently use SafeSippys, Klean Kanteen and Lifefactory and would recommend them all. I have 5 Safe Sippys that I’ve used through 2 kids. They are dented and well loved, but still going strong after years of being tossed around!
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There are also numerous “better” plastic options out there, such as ThinkBaby, Born Free that MOMObaby that are made from better plastics and do not have PVC, BPA or phthalates. These may be great options for some parents who prefer plastics and at one point I used some of these brands, but now I prefer stainless or glass containers.
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Stainless sippys or bottles are a terrific gift option for families with babies and toddlers, especially since these stainless bottles and sippys are often hard to find in stores. They are cuter options and are more durable.Thankfully, prices are dropping and these options are becoming more affordable. I actually saw the Safe Sippy recently on Zulily for around $10. I should have stocked up on these for gifts and I’m hoping they go back on sale again soon.
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I still hurt for all the children whose families can’t afford a higher end sippy or bottle. I wish there were a “Tom’s” of sippys…a reputable organization who donated a bottle for each one purchased or a way to recycle stainless cups to families in need…if you know of anything like that, please leave a comment and let us all know how we can help others. Every little bit helps!
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gree8956

Hi! I'm Ashley. When I had my first daughter, I started thinking more about how the things around us affected her little mind and body. I started doing research...LOTS of research...and realized that some things in our lives needed to change. Since then our family has been on a quest to "green up" our lives, a little bit at a time.

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Comments (2)

  1. Danielle says:
    March 29, 2013 at 8:39 pm

    I’m so tired of everything being bad for us and our children. Thanks for laying out some nice affordable options!!! I had ever even heard of these.

    Reply
    1. gree8956 says:
      April 1, 2013 at 4:25 pm

      I agree, Danielle. It can be exhausting trying to navigate some of these things. It’s nice to have a few options that you don’t have to worry about!

      Reply

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