Klean Kanteen and Born Free are safe alternatives to BPA containing plastic

Recently, there has been more research concerning plastics that contain the hormone disrupting Bisphenol A (BPA) .  This caused me to go through my daughter’s sippy cups, my reusable water bottles and other food and drink related plastics.  So far, I threw away any plastics that have a recycling number 7, and it was quite a trash pile. I also found our water jug that we pay for monthly is a number 7 and it is quite worn since it gets reused.  The more worn BPA plastics are, the more it allows the chemical to leach into your beverage more easily. 

This article from a Chicago newspaper, describes the concerns about BPA well, and how some companies aren’t waiting for government intervention, such as Medela, and are choosing to stop using the BPA containing plastics.

This article recommends you only use 4, 5, 1, and 2 for food and to avoid 3, 6 and 7 unless they are a new bio-based plastic labeled as such.  

Overwhelming yes, and I am of the mind that a lot of times there is a scare for a whole lot of nothing, but this chemical that is in baby bottles, sippy cups etc seems unacceptable.

The solutions can be pricey, at least for now, but I believe it will be better for my family.  I ordered some Klean Kanteen stainless steel sippys and two water bottles for my workouts.  They look great, come highly recommended, are super lightweight and will last longer than any plastic I could buy.  As your child grows, you can change the top of the cup to a sports top, screw-on cap, or looped top.  Easy to clean, and healthy!  I have also found some safe plastic bottles and sippy cups by Born Free, at www.newbornfree.com.  I believe that Whole Foods also carries the Born free brand.  When my daughter would take an occasional bottle, I used the Playtex Drop-in system which is affordable, and free of BPA as well.

So—check your plastics, decide what you are comfortable with, and happy shopping!  Mama Jen