For those that are purging plastic???

[KristineIN]

Ok, I'm trying to wrap my brain around all of this, I look at things like this as far as healthy eating, what I allow my family to do, etc. I do the best that I can with what I have, I'm doing much better than the person that I see in the grocery store with pop, poptarts, sugared cereal, cookies, cakes, frozen meals, etc, but we are human, we eat things that come in plastic containers, sour cream, milk, cheese. I figure this, there is one thing certain in life, and that is death. Yes, we are all going to die some day. I'm trying to make it so that we live as long as possible, but I'm not going to worry about things, I'm not going to take my childrens Legos away just to add a few extra years to their life. Also, I woke up this morning, used shampoo in a plastic bottle, put minerals make up on that came in a plastic container, am using a plastic keyboard and mouse and the list goes on and on. So I'm just curious if you are taking all of your childrens toys away because of the plastic, what do you do about the rest of the things in your house? Even beans come in plastic bags? Anyway, sorry, but this is just baffling my mind. We have always used glass dishes, glasses to drink out of and pyrex containers for the most part.....

 

Kristine

[Soph the vet]

I am not purging, but one thing I have been changing is NOT microwaving in plastic. Only wax paper and corningware here, baby!!:D

 

My ds would DIE if I took away his Legos, so obviously that would defeat the purpose, would it not?:lol:

[Linda in NM]

I had a medical friend who used to say that we needed to expose our children to toxins...not overwhelmingly, but if we did not, they would not build up their immune systems...we do have plastic water bottles and we drink a lot of gatorade/powerade...we use organic milk, meats, and fruit, but I do occasionally buy canned pineapple and "regular" frozen vegetables and pizza (gasp). Oh, well...we all do our best.

[Andie]

I had a medical friend who used to say that we needed to expose our children to toxins...not overwhelmingly, but if we did not, they would not build up their immune systems...we do have plastic water bottles and we drink a lot of gatorade/powerade...we use organic milk, meats, and fruit, but I do occasionally buy canned pineapple and "regular" frozen vegetables and pizza (gasp). Oh, well...we all do our best.

 

meant *germs*? Exposure to chemicals isn't going to "build up" an immune system. I could understand if the friend meant germs, to build up immunities, but chemicals? :confused:

[Andie]

I'm careful about plastics. I never allowed many plastic toys when my children were small and still mouthed things. I tend to prefer more sedate toys anyway. Can't stand gaudy colors and blinking lights. We no longer drink out of plastic at home, don't microwave or store leftovers in it, but I'm not losing sleep over the plastic sleeve the cereal comes in, or my beloved Rubbermaid bins.

[Alexandra]

I was thinking about how much plastic we have and whether I should toss the water bottles etc. Then I got to thinking about how all of our water comes in plastic pipes... Thinking about all this is a little overwhelming to me.

[Tess in the Burbs]

We are being more careful but not afraid either. Plastic has been around a long time and no one has yet to made solid scientific evidence that touching it will kill us....yet.

 

We are not getting rid of lego's but are moving to all glassware for drinking. We already get our milk and juice in glass containers. I have yet to find a good set of glass food saver type items, but I am always looking.

 

And I can't undo any plastic my kids had exposure to as babies. They prefer dress up clothes and tinkertoys now...I suppose I should go find the wooden tinker toys instead huh?

 

:tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, I think it's like anything 'green' these days....small changes make big impacts in the long run. Do what is best for you...being informed and making choices you can live with. Afterall, we would love to have our own cow for fresh milk but the local dairy delivers, so that is our choice and it works for us.

[Aunty Social]

...and we were discussing this last night. He's actually done lab work on this sort of thing (chemicals leaching from the containers into the contents), and says that in ordinary circumstances, there's nothing to worry about. He did recommend not microwaving with things like plastic wrap and those disposable plastic storage containers though! Microwaves do bad things:001_smile:.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I always wondered about the cheapo plastic stuff. We started buying some of them last year and I always took stuff out of it to cook in the microwave. Will continue to do so!

 

I just can't bring myself to throw out my tupperware stuff though. I don't microwave it but it cost so much...I hate to throw it out!

[Linda in NM]

I don't know--I wonder. I think about that Star Trek movie where the person from the future had to smoke cigarettes to keep her immune system functioning, since her world was so much more toxic than ours...fantastic? Maybe. What about the chemicals in those sugar substitutes?

[Margaret in GA]

We are doing somewhat better here. I had gotten lazy and was using the microwave far too much- even though 75% of what I was microwaving in was glass, that's still too much- As far as legos, I think they're fine. Not great, but fine. I feel like I'm countering that with plenty of outdoor time and healthy food.

 

Water bottles, gatorade and sodas are bad, bad, bad. I wish the rest of the world felt that way, because they still seem to infiltrate our house even though I don't buy them :confused:-- soccer, grandparents, etc. I have to point out to my kids all the time that the water inside those bottles isn't nearly as good as our filtered well water, not to mention the pollution and waste from plastic! Sometimes I feel like I'm fighting in a war -- it's Everyone Vs. My Kids.

 

Margaret in GA

[Only me]

Lately I've been hearing a lot of bad things about drinking water from plastic bottles, etc. Up until now we've been using a ton of water bottles. I'm going to try to use fewer disposable bottles but I have yet to come up with a solution for what to use for sports. My son's little league season is starting and we normally go through a ton of bottles of water and Gatorade during the season. I could cut down and start using his plastic sports bottle. That would help the environment but I still worry about using the plastic. Obviously I can't use anything glass so what else can be used. The kids also like to keep a water bottle outside during the summer with cold water or Gatorade in it and I want to come up with another solution.

[Margaret in GA]

Try these:

 

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=3395091

 

 

I have one (just one-- they are $$ ) and it works great.

[Andie]

Lately I've been hearing a lot of bad things about drinking water from plastic bottles, etc. Up until now we've been using a ton of water bottles. I'm going to try to use fewer disposable bottles but I have yet to come up with a solution for what to use for sports. My son's little league season is starting and we normally go through a ton of bottles of water and Gatorade during the season. I could cut down and start using his plastic sports bottle. That would help the environment but I still worry about using the plastic. Obviously I can't use anything glass so what else can be used. The kids also like to keep a water bottle outside during the summer with cold water or Gatorade in it and I want to come up with another solution.

 

Kleen Kanteens are what my kids use now. http://www.kleankanteen.com/

[mcconnellboys]

I've been reading that there are actually more of the bad chemicals (pthalates? I don't know how to spell it....) found in plastics in the formulations of most shampoos, body washes, bath oils, etc., than in plastic containers. So we put these things on our bodies every day in liquid form, too.....