wsj: Do you try to buy “green” or BPA-free products for yourself and your families?

[melonpan]

"As Gwendolyn Bounds reported in a disheartening story in this week’s Journal, more than 95% of consumer products examined committed at least one offense of “greenwashing,” a term used to describe unproven environmental claims"

its all too much really. and im getting to the point where i almost dont care.

http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2010/10/26/are-green-bpa-free-products-for-real/

[edurnemk]

I feel you. I just try to focus on the fact that I can't prevent 100% of the exposure, but can limit the part that is in my hands.

I'm just trying to stay away from plastics as much as possible (I keep thinking what if 10 years from now they discover there's some other nasty chemical in the new plastics replacing the ones with BPA), but it's really hard to do it 100%. I make my own cleaners out of baking soda, vinegar, castille soap. I don't buy things that say "all natural" because there's no control over the use of that phrase, I cook almost everything from scratch, I read ingredients on everything.... but it's all so exhausting!

Greenwashing upsets me so much! I can't even find the words to express my anger at greenwashing companies. how can they outright lie like that? :13: :31: :nono:

[mikala]

Ugh.

I asked for advice on going green without becoming overwhelmed a few weeks ago and most people said to go slowly area by area. It's helping some but articles like this are still so disheartening. It's crazy that in a high tech world companies are putting the burden on parents to research products with very limited info and make sure they are safe for our families instead of just doing the right thing and trying to produce safe products.

I'm on hold for this book at the library but I'm not sure if I actually want to read it when it comes in.
http://www.amazon.com/Slow-Death-Rubber-Duck-Everyday/dp/1582435677

[mikala]

I'm just trying to stay away from plastics as much as possible (I keep thinking what if 10 years from now they discover there's some other nasty chemical in the new plastics replacing the ones with BPA), but it's really hard to do it 100%. :

I'm trying to stay away from plastics for food prep/storage/serving too and am struggling with it. DS is 13 mo and loves to "drop" cups and any other food items in his path so we're pretty much relegated to plastic and stainless steel. I've seen the Kleen Kanteen sippy cups but haven't found any other non-plastic versions and we still use plastic regular cups with him because I don't trust him near glass unless I'm holding it.

Have you found any good options for food serving/transport? I've been browsing through reuseit.com for ideas and have found a few things but they all seem so $$$.

[edurnemk]

I'm trying to stay away from plastics for food prep/storage/serving too and am struggling with it. DS is 13 mo and loves to "drop" cups and any other food items in his path so we're pretty much relegated to plastic and stainless steel. I've seen the Kleen Kanteen sippy cups but haven't found any other non-plastic versions and we still use plastic regular cups with him because I don't trust him near glass unless I'm holding it.

Have you found any good options for food serving/transport? I've been browsing through reuseit.com for ideas and have found a few things but they all seem so $$$.

No, I haven't found good options for transport. I just settled on #5 plastics for DS's lunchbox for pre-school. And then those are not heated, so I feel they're OK. DS's plates at home are also #5 from Ikea, it's harder to avoid plastic with young kids. I've been intending to get the tempered glass glasses from Williams Sonoma, now that he can hold his own cup. We have some Foogoo sippy cups and straw cups.
All our food is stored in glass snapware, we have no Teflon pans (despite DH's complaints). And that's basically it, I think.

[SpaceGal]

I just replaced 90% of my plastic food storage with Pyrex saving the larger plastic containers for say soups and what not.

I just try to be conscious of not buying plastics too much. Use reusable bags as much as possible and things like that.

My next thing would be to replace all my Calphalon anodized cookware with stainless...but since it's not all that old I have a hard time justifying throwing it out just for new cookware.

[crl]

We have some of these. Plus a round one from Pearl River Trading.

http://pearlriver.com/v2/FramesCat.asp?iGroup=333

They've stood up to heavy use for about 3 or 4 years, including being washed in the dishwasher. They have just started to show some wear and I may need to replace them in the next few months.

Catherine

[Uno-Mom]

Nope, we don't worry too awfully much. I know there will be a new trend next year ... KWIM?

But we do use common sense - like, reconsider heating something in plastic - heat would certainly transfer chemicals. Drinking cold water from a plastic cup - meh. Doesn't worry me. Seems much more important to think about eating a balanced diet.

I'm sure that there is some validity to every scary news story. But I can't help but notice how many newspapers...magazines...new and "improved" products ... and literature gets spawned. There's a lot of profit involved in every consumer scare! And who's responsible for publicizing the stories??

On the other hand, these issues inspire some people to be more thoughtful consumers and careful with their health. That's certainly a GOOD thing! I'm probably too cynical.

And I totally accept that there are VERY valid and important consumer/environmental alerts out there. So don't flame me! :)

[citymama]

I wouldn't get too het up over the article or the report it is based on. Not the best quality reporting (uses essentially a single source) and the report it cites was produced by an interested party (a certification firm).

But I think the main lesson to be learned from it is that consumers need independent certification to provide a guarantee that a product is what it claims to be. This is a case of certification and regulation needing to play catch-up with a trend that got ahead. Just as with organic food labeling - before the standard was issued in the late nineties, with criteria for compliance and monitoring, there were a lot of claims of organic, biologique, natural etc. without any way of knowing if they were true. Now when you see a USDA certified organic label you have some guarantee of the standards the product has complied with. We're just not there with BPA yet.

Similarly with other green criteria, such as recycled paper content, FSC certification, Energy Star etc., there are actual labels (look for the FSC label for wood products) that have criteria and independent monitoring of compliance that go with them. BPA is a brand-new issue, if you will, and there is no real guarantee of whether or not a product contains it. Until then, use your common sense to know one way or another. If you buy a silicone teether or pacifier you are likely to buy BPA free. Ditto if you buy glass bottles or storage containers - that's one way to avoid BPA. Just the same way as if you buy Canadian certified diamonds, you are likely to buy "blood-free" diamonds. (There is a Polar Bear label.) But whether you can trust that a plastic is BPA free - not really. I try and limit plastics altogether, especially hard clear plastics and soft plastics that might contain pthalates. I am wary of companies that don't disclose information about point of origin or proprietary formulas, like SIGG and its "top secret" coating. But I know that as hard as I try, there is no way to be guaranteed of every ingredient in products or even food I buy. You have to be prepared to roll with the punches.

But I would urge us not to respond to uncertainty by sticking our heads in the sand or throwing our hands up in despair because of imperfect information. Be an informed consumer, which means looking beyond a corporation's own claims and making your own judgment calls about what product to opt for.

(A side note: equally or even more illuminating was the NYT article (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/health/23patient.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general) from the weekend that said that spending more $$ on running shoes is a big waste - $25 Champion shoes from Foot Locker is just as good as $150 Nikes! We as consumers have many options but alas, a lot of our info comes from the folks trying to get us to buy their products.)