Green Options

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MC sent me this link, as a follow up to my post “Breastfeeding Reduces Anxiety in Children“. Apparently, breastfeeding creates anxiety in some mothers, thus they have chosen to feed their infants exclusively pumped breastmilk. Actually, I know of two women who have done this, and I applaud their commitment to giving their infants the best possible nutrition from the start.

One such mother, that has chosen to exclusively pump for her daughter, is Carrie Mehi, a lawyer from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Carrie explains her psychological struggle with breastfeeeding:

This is a part of my body that’s always been reserved for sexual activity, and I sort of assumed my brain would make whatever necessary adjustments it had to do to make [breastfeeding] not a completely creepy experience for me. I really don’t think we tried breastfeeding after the first day we left the hospital. I was not interested in having my sweet baby crying at my breast for one more minute. I just wanted her fed. [Breastfeeding] was an unpleasant sensation to me, and I thought, you know what, if I’m flinching, I might as well flinch to a machine instead of to my girl.

Obviously, breastfed babies are happiest and healthiest; however, sometimes families have to use infant formulas to nourish their young ones. A new report issued by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) makes recommendations for feeding babies safely and avoiding Bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is a hormone disruptor that can harm brain development and may affect behavior. Many families have switched to BPA-free bottles and sippy cups; however, infant formula containers pose a higher risk to children than baby bottles when it comes to BPA leaching.

Back in October, I wrote about the risk of BPA leaching into food and infant formula stored in tin/steel cans. Steel cans are lined with plastic containing BPA to prevent contamination from the can to the food/formula. EWG found that,

1 out of every 16 infants fed ready-to-eat liquid formula are exposed to BPA at doses exceeding those that caused increased aggression and significant changes in testosterone levels in laboratory animals.

Many parents are concerned about the presence of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles and sippy cups. Previously, we have written several posts on the subject, as the potential negative effects of this endocrine-disrupting hormone found in many plastics is alarming . Finally, there is one site parents can go to for a complete picture of BPA and children’s beverage containers: Z Recommends.

Bloggers Jeremiah and Jennifer McNichols have completed the most thorough and comprehensive directory of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. Consisting of 25 individual posts, the Z Report recommends “Top Picks”, “Promising Entrants”, “Proceed with Caution”, and “Brands to Avoid.” There are individual posts for each company, as well. As Jeremiah explains, “The chart assesses the companies overall - for example, we are recommending avoiding companies that DO have a few BPA-free items, because their policies are inconsistent, they are strongly pro-polycarbonate, or they do not offer a non-polycarbonate bottle (even though they may have non-BPA sippys). We tried to give a broad picture of which companies are worth doing business with based on their BPA stance, and then have the company-specific pages to provide per-product information. All Top Pick companies make only BPA-free products.” Z Recs’ goal is to have all companies disclose on their labels exactly what kinds of plastics are used on products that come into contact with children’s mouths. This sure would help consumers make wise decisions in the store, but for now, visiting The Z Report: A Directory of Bisphenol-A In Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups will help parents make sense of BPA in children’s products.

Holiday season fanfare has already begun, and I am reminded of my holiday motto: No more junk toys! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and/or the Winter Solstice, if you have children, you know what junk toys are. Junk toys are toys that will have little educational value, are usually made of plastic, are overly commercial, and end up in our landfills. Green parents often try to make these toys

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The benefit of breastfeeding for children and their mothers is common knowledge, but is breastfeeding better for the environment? I was recently asked this question in response to Bill Maher’s criticism of public breastfeeding and Facebook’s refusal to post pictures of breastfeeding mothers. In honor of today’s Breast Fest, hosted by the League of Maternal Justice, I will explore the issues of breastfeeding and the environment.

According to

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Monday's Daily Grist included the headline "I Believe the Children Are Our Lab Rats: Pesticides could make kids dumb, diesel emissions make them sick". After the recent news about BPA in baby bottles, lead in children's lunchboxes, jewelry, and baby bibs, as well as the information on pesticides affecting intelligence and noxious school bus emissions, the Daily Grist just may be right. Our children are not being protected, thus many families chose

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With all of the concerns about bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles, I’ve become concerned about the plastic dishware my children use. Searching the bottoms of the plastic dishes for recycling codes to no avail, I discovered that in very small writing they say “not intended for children under three.” Hmmmm, this standard line is usually reserved for toys with chokeable parts, but what is chokeable about a plate or a bowl? [...]

Many parents do not feel comfortable giving their older infants glass bottles, but there is a BPA-free plastic alternative. Born Free makes BPA-free plastic baby bottles, training cups, and sippy cups. I have not tried out these products, but it is nice to know there is an alternative for parents who feel plastic is the best option for their child. According to Greenfeet, “It doesn’t take much. As little as one to three servings [...]

Thermos has joined the stainless steel sippy cup revolution with Foogo. Foogo products have vacuum insulation to insure your child’s beverage stay fresh (cold drinks only). Foogo is the first stainless steel sippy to have handles for little hands, and it is recommended for children as young as 6 months old. Thermos is also releasing other Foogo products, including a straw bottle and a food jar. I emailed Thermos to find out if [...]

March 12, 2007 – Letter from Steve Wasik, President, SIGG USA:

On March 9th, it was brought to my attention that a website sponsored by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) made mention that SIGG bottles contain plastic liners with bisphenol A (BPA).

I can assure you that SIGG bottles are absolutely not made with a plastic liner and are in fact lined with a proprietary non-toxic, water-based resin which has been refined over decades of study and is [...]

ReusableBags.com offers these unique stainless steel food containers made by Timolino. The Kapsule Vacuum Jar comes in a variety of sizes, and the canister is air tight! According to ReusableBags.com ,”Safe, stylish and very reasonably priced, the 10 oz Stainless Steel Vacuum Food Jars will keep food and beverages hot for up to 3 hours or cold for up to 5 hours using state-of-the-art vacuum chamber technology. A safe alternative to [...]