What: 100% corn plastic mug
Features: Yes, you read correctly–this 10.5oz mug is made out of 100% corn, grown and manufactured right here in America
Green Factors: Features lead-free ink and no BPA whatsoever. It’s also microwave-safe, biodegradable and can be composted, as well.
Bonus: Because it’s corn plastic, this mug won’t break when if you drop it
Find It Here: BuyOlympia
From Green Toys comes this sweet 15-piece toolset, a must-have for any budding carpenter. Kids can get right to work with the functional box and variety of tools, and will learn along the way because the hand-held tools bear their names on the handles. Not only is it made in the USA of recycled milk jugs— it’s also BPA, phthalate and lead free and is packaged in recycled cardboard without those super-annoying, impossible-to-undo twist ties. In other words, this is a toy that won’t take twenty minutes and a pair of pliers to open. Just open the box and PLAY! Fab green fact: For every pound of recycled milk jugs used to make the products from Green Toys, enough electricity is saved to run a television for three weeks, and a laptop for four. Wow—plastic you can actually feel NOT bad about buying!
Find It Here: Lavish & Lime
What: Stainless Steel Ice Cube Trays
Features: BPA, PVC, lead and phthalate-free, made from heavy duty 18/8 stainless steel.
Why: To make ice or freeze baby food without using plastic.
Green Factor: Plastic is made from petroleum products and will be here long after you’re gone AND can have BPA and other chemicals leaching from it. These are safe but tough food-grade stainless steel.
Cool Factor: They’re super-retro.
Find It Here: The Soft Landing or NoPlastic.Ca
Yesterday we learned that some SIGG reusable bottles do, in fact, contain bisphenol A (BPA). As proponents of eco-friendly living and staunch supporters of reusable bottles, we at The Green Mom Review are very unhappy that we based our SIGG bottle feature (April 2008) on misleading information directly from SIGG.
The fact is, we featured SIGG bottles on April 15, 2008. A day later, we posted an addendum regarding SIGG’s proprietary inner lining material. In this addendum, we also included a link to an official statment from SIGG with the subject line “Quality and Safety Guarantee.”
In that statement, SIGG clearly states that there is no presence of BPA in their bottles. This was dated April 16, 2008. SIGG announced yesterday that their bottles are BPA-free ONLY IF manufactured AFTER August 2008. That’s quite a discrepancy in the timeline and we are very disappointed over what appears to be an intentional attempt by SIGG to deceive consumers.
To clarify, SIGG knew their bottles had BPA in them and they were less than forthcoming with this information in an official statement released in April 2008, well over a year ago, when the bottles were STILL being made with a liner containing BPA.
Using clever wording like “no presence” of BPA may get SIGG off the hook legally but they were still dishonest and as an editor of a green living site, I’m not pleased. As a mother, I’m incensed that SIGG would use semantics to mislead parents who are doing everything they can to keep BPA out of their kids’ bodies.
To find out if your SIGG bottles have the liner containing BPA, please compare with the pictures below:
Click image to enlarge
For further questions or comments, consumers have been invited to email SIGG’s CEO.
On Our Blog: Food Inc: The Truth About What We Eat
I have a number of different reusable containers and bags that I use for my kids’ lunches and our snacks on-the-go and generally speaking, I like them all—they work well and do what they’re supposed to do. The reusable bags from Graze Organics, however, are about the cutest things I’ve ever seen! Made from 100% organic cotton with no plastic lining and printed with earth-friendly water-based inks, these adorable bags are festooned with simple but bright and happy food graphics that totally appeal to my inner graphic designer. Additionally, they are machine-washable, made in the USA and sweatshop-free.
Graze Organics’ motto is “because every bag matters” and without getting all lecture-y it’s true. Every plastic bag you DON’T use is one less piece of petroleum-based, hormone-disrupting plastic that will be here long after you’re gone. If everyone utilized reusable bags instead of the millions of plastic ones that are used EVERY SINGLE DAY, the impact would be staggering. Viva la reusables!!
Graze also carries the cutest organic cotton cloth napkins. When you pull one out of your lunch bag, you’ll look all fancy and totally shame the paper napkin users at your table. Wait. Did just type that out loud? What I meant to say was you will be admired by all for your good taste and eco-friendly ways :)
We’ve partnered with Graze Organics to give away one set of their fabulous reusable bags! Details below.
Find It Here: Graze Organics
Win It: We’re giving away a set of three Graze Organic reusable snack and sandwich bags. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter GR08 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: Name the four different kinds of cloth napkins available from Graze Organics. Enter by 8/27/09. $26 value. Open to US residents. Winner to be notified by email. Contest Closed.
On Our Blog: Food Inc: The Truth About What We Eat
With both my babies, finding a bottle they liked as well as my boobs was a challenge that involved multiple frantic trips, some in the wee hours of the night, to procure bottles that wouldn’t be flatly rejected by said babies. Even though I was breastfeeding, the bottle was key because HELLO? I needed rest; I needed my husband to be able to feed them so I didn’t go insane from sleep deprivation. With my son, we found exactly ONE type of bottle that he would take and I maintain to this day that he did because it was the only bottle that even remotely resembled a real breast.
Enter Adiri Natural Nurser…a bottle that really does resemble the real deal—I think if I’d had one of these gems at the get-go, we would have saved at least a Benjamin or two on all those other bottles that were used once, barely, and then cast aside by my tiny discriminating offspring. Not only are Adiri bottles the recipient of the iParenting Media Greatest Products of 2008 award and a Medical Design Excellence Award of 2008 winner, they’re more like a real breast than any other bottle. And equally, if not more impressive than fancy awards, is the fact that they’re BPA (bisphenol-A) and soft polycarbonate-free so you can bottle-feed without worry of giving your little one dangerous endocrine-disrupting chemicals at every meal. Toxic junk-free, award-winning and it mimics breastfeeding like no other bottle, reducing the dreaded nipple confusion… What’s not to love?
Find It Here: Adiri
Win It: We’re giving away Two Bonus Pack Adiri Natural Nurser Bottles (Slow Flow). Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter AD07 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: Name three other awards the Adiri has won. Enter by 8/5/09. $26 value. Open to residents of US and Canada. Winner to be notified by email. Contest Closed.
When I was a teenager, my mother bought a bumper sticker for our car adorned with a cartoon Earth; across from it was the phrase LOVE YOUR MOTHER in big green letters. I loved that sticker – I thought it was such a clever play on words; a neat way to get such an important message across. I haven’t thought about it in years, but I was reminded of it while poring over the Smiling Planet’s web site earlier this week.
The Smiling Planet is a new green company that makes, among other things, the cutest earth-aware plates and placemats for kids I’ve ever seen. Not only are their plates are made from 100% recycled material, they’re completely recyclable, too. They’re toxin-free, dishwasher safe, stackable and scratch-free, and did I mention they’re really cute? Because they totally are. (They’re also priced right, which, as far as I’m concerned, is a real bonus these days.)
It’s not just plates and placemats that are available – the Smiling Planet boasts posters, books, t-shirts and onesies for children that send earth-friendly messages and are printed with water-based inks. All of the Smiling Planet’s merchandise is compliant with the Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA), and it’s all made in sunny California. The Smiling Planet is dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint while celebrating the world and her diversity, and that certainly shows in their (blissfully licensed character-free) designs.
Find It Here: Smiling Planet
If you’ve been reading the news for the past couple years, you probably already know that research has proven that plastics are a problem, particularly when it comes to food/drink storage and cooking. Many companies are now starting to phase out certain chemicals in their plastic products that have been proven unsafe for humans and for especially children but, at the same time, many companies are doing business as usual and that’s a problem. Since we don’t always know what’s in the plastics we use or which companies are doing right by consumers, we’re of the opinion that it’s best to just avoid them whenever possible. Fortunately, there are companies like Noplastic.ca that have amassed all kinds of great products to fill many of your non-plastic needs and we’ve partnered with them to give away to one lucky randomly selected winner a 12 oz stainless steel bottle with a sippy adapter and Avent sippy spout.
Find It Here: Noplastic.ca
Win It: We’re giving away a 12 oz stainless steel bottle with a sippy adapter and Avent sippy spout. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter NPL5 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What are the six categories of non-plastic items carried by Noplastic.ca? Enter by 6/2/09. $19 value. Open to residents of US and Canada. Winner will be notified by email. Contest closed. Congrats to Monica!
Don’t take this the wrong way but if you haven’t heard about the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) showing up in baby bottles, amongst other things (food cans, milk container linings, water pipes, dental sealants), you need to get up to speed. BPA is a hormone disrupting chemical that, in animal testing, has been linked to a variety of health issues such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, genital abnormalities in male newborns, early puberty in females, poor semen quality, obesity, metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and neurological problems like ADHD. Is it any coincidence that all of the aforementioned health problems seem to be on the rise over the past several decades as plastics have become more and more prevalent in our lives? My non-expert opinion is no. Fortunately, with the aforementioned information getting out, BPA-free baby bottles are now available so you can feed your baby and feel safer about limiting their exposure to this dangerous chemical. Even better? We’ve partnered with our friends at Mama Goes Green to give away to one lucky reader a Green To Grow BPA-free Baby Bottle Basics Gift Set that contains two BPA-free baby bottles and a package of non-toxic medical-grade silicone beginner (0 – 3 months) nipples all packaged in a super cute re-usable shopping tote. Squeee!
Find It Here: Mama Goes Green
Win It: We’re giving away a Green To Grow BPA-free Baby Bottle Basics Gift Set. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter GTG4 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: Name three other green or organic baby items carried by Mama Goes Green. Enter by 4/25/09. $47 value. Contest closed. Congrats to Andrea!
You know I love all things green, right? Green is good. No, actually green is AWESOME. But even better than the awesomeness of green is the awesomeness of green combined with style. While I love many traditional childhood decor themes, I’m a big fan of nifty modern designs for the wee ones, as well. One shop in particular that makes me swoon is Saplings. They have oodles of stylish eco-friendly kid and baby decor, all with an emphasis on being chemical-free, organic, fair-trade, sustainably-produced and locally procured whenever possible. Perusing their site is like a little slice of mass-marketed-characters-free heaven, with timeless designs that won’t become embarrassing or uncool as your child grows older. In a culture where everything is designed to break or go out of style in a shockingly short period of time (aka “planned obsolescence“) Saplings is like a breath of fresh, VOC-free air.
Find It Here: Saplings
Win It: We’re giving away a $50 gift certificate to Saplings. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter SAP as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What is your favorite item in the Saplings shop? Enter by 4/19/09. $50 value. Contest closed. Congrats Katie!
Plastic baggies…we know they’re convenient for packing lunches because, well, we’ve used them. I mean who hasn’t, right? There’s just one problem…they aren’t recyclable. The end result is that every day of the 180 day school year, millions of plastic baggies are thrown away and will live on for hundreds of years in a landfill. But it doesn’t HAVE to be that way. There are lots of reusable options available for packing waste-free lunches and one that we especially like are Fresh Snack Packs. I like them because you can see what’s inside them but equally awesome is the fact that they’re phthalates, PVC and BPA and lead free. Oh, and did I mention they’re reusable? Yeah, they are and we think they’re so groovy green that we’re giving away a couple sets of Fresh Snack Packs to one lucky winner!
Find It Here: Fresh Snack Pack
Win It: We’re giving away two sets of Fresh Snack Packs (4 snack and 2 sandwich packs) to one winner. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter FSP3 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: Fresh Snack Packs are made of what material? Enter by 3/25/09. $29 value. Contest closed. Congrats to Tammy!
