Safe Sassy Toys

http://thesoftlanding.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/which-sassy-baby-products-are-bpa-free/#comment-675

This blog has compiled a list of some safe Sassy toys. We're steering away from plastics altogether here based on my research, but its nice to know what are the safer options (especially since my kids have the lion teether and won't part with it).

Homemade Toys

I posted already about The Great Toy Replacement Project going on at our house. So far I've sold quite a few things on Craigslist (nothing recalled, just things we are choosing not to have in our home) and am saving the money to buy replacement toys. Not that my kids are hurting for toys! Julia got several Haba things for Christmas that we really like the quality of and feel safe giving her to play with and suck on. Lucy got a Plan Toys dollhouse I found on ebay and some of the furniture sets from Great Grandma for Christmas. She took the Plan Toys doll family to go play in her plastic broken $10 garage sale monstrosity that I have no idea how I'm going to take from her.

I also made quite a few things for both girls for Christmas. I am proud of how they turned out and spent months planning, sewing, crocheting, etc. In the homemade by mama category Julia got a crocheted baby doll, set of four soft blocks, soft shoes, a bottle filled with beads and corn syrup to watch, and a cloth bag filled with little pillows made of all different texture materials. Lucy got soft matching slippers, an I-spy bag, an apron, felt cupcakes, felt sandwich toppings, playsilks dyed by me, leg warmers, and little bean bags. We bought other things like books, art supplies and Haba toys, but I am happy with the handmade loot too.

We are also making the girls a set of wooden animals - much like the expensive Holztiger animals for sale online at various toy shops. My father in law has a band saw and DH and he have been working on them. I absolutely adore the little creatures and know they will be treasured for ages to come! There is just something so cool about having handmade toys for the girls rather than mass produced plastic. Its got me thinking up more things to make and pulls me even further from the plastic laden shelves of the local stores. Not that I mind.

More in the Kitchen

Here are a few things we've done lately...

- got stainless steel measuring spoons and cups from Bed Bath and Beyond
-donated to ewg.org and got their holiday bag including a cast iron pan and Kleen Kanteen! The pan is a Lodge Preseasoned (which you can get for a decent price on amazon) and its worked well the first time I used it, much better even than my expensive nonstick Calphalon. I'm thinking of buying more. I haven't used the KK yet but I know I will use it constantly this summer. I need to buy the girls each one.
-found a new Pampered Chef stoneware pizza pan on Craigslist - love it! I want another one and then I'll toss all my cookie sheets.
-got a small bamboo cutting board at Meijer for $3 or so
-dishes- we bought a large set of Pfaltzgraff off Craigslist and got rid of everything else. We really like the set and it feels like an upgrade from what we had so we're happy.
-slow cooker - we had a very old Rival brand (which contains lead) we tossed and got a new Hamilton Beach for Christmas (they state they do not use lead or cadmium in their slow cookers)
-glass storage - I bought the Anchor Hocking set of 8 or so glass containers with the plastic lids and a small set of 5 with lids and we love them! Even if it weren't for the sake of not using plastic, I'd still recommend them to anyone. They dont hold food smells like plastic, are so much easier to wash and just look and feel much nicer. You can reheat foods in them without worrying.

And here's what we still have to do:

-find a safe muffin tin, either stainless steel, stoneware, or cast iron
-find child size silverware
-get another stoneware pan or stainless steel cookie sheets
-get more Kleen Kanteens for DH and the girls
-find a replacement for plastic spatulas/cooking utensils??? can you use stainless steel ones on stainless steel pans? right now we have plastic
-get a stainless steel collander to replace the plastic one
-figure out how to freeze food without using plastic?? Our glass storage stuff was to expensive to replace all the freezer containers with.

Thats all I can think of. I'm really enjoying using my new things and safetyfying the kitchen.

What About The Kitchen?

Ok, so here's what we're doing in the kitchen so far...

We tossed the plastic cutting board, we have a glass one but I would like to buy a wooden one (Who ever thought of using glass for a cutting board? It makes a loud noise to cut on it.)

I went through all the baby cups, sippies, etc and according to the ZRecommends site, we have "safe" plastic now, but I'd still like to trade it out for non plastic options. I'm trying to find info on my Gerber bowls, spoons, and some other misc items. I purchased some Anchor Hocking glass juice cups that are just the right size for Lucy, but after 2 days of use she already broke the first one. Good thing they are cheap and I can get them locally at the Pfalzgraph outlet. I'm not sure how well they are going to work, we'll see how many more she breaks I guess. I'm looking for some child sized silverware to replace our plastic and melamine ones. Oneida makes some, I just have to go to some of the big department stores to see if they carry the child size.

I have an Avent pump and bottles that I've used a few times with Lucy. Thankfully I rarely have to pump, so I'm keeping the pump and one or two bottles to pump into, but I'm getting rid of the rest. If we need bottles I would buy glass ones and just pump and pour it into the bottles right away. I have some Gerber breastmilk freezer storage bags which are "safe" plastic, but I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable using them.

Dishes - we have a set made by Gibson (the company at fault in the Utah news story) that we are selling. I'm researching better options and we'll use the money towards a better set and then get rid of our Corelle dishes once we have a safer option.

Melamine kids dishes? Can't find good info on these. I've seen the finish on these get old and crack and peel, so they dont seem safe to me, plus they aren't micowavable, so what about when you put hot food on them? Seems like it might not be safe. I won't buy it, but we do have a cute set I'm keeping and wont use for hot foods.

I got rid of a Nalgene water bottle and a Princess cup, both #7. Plastic utensils and styrofoam cups had to go as well. I'm not sure what we'll do if we have a party? Say "Bring your own silverware?", maybe.

I'm hoping to replace my tupperware/ gladware/ etc with glass dishes. They do have plastic covers, but at least it doesnt touch the food much. I emailed Anchor Hocking about their lids. They are #7, but not polycarbonate.
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The code #7 on the plastic storageware lids refers to the recycling code. The plastic lids are made from a combination of LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) and a material called POE (Poly Olefin Ester). Both materials are Federal Drug Administration (FDA) acceptable. Since more than one resin is used, the only category we could assign, and stay within the labeling guidelines, was the code #7. Please refer to the following website for information regarding the recycling labeling code system:

http://www.americanplasticscouncil.org/s_apc/sec.asp?TRACKID=&CID=313&DID=931

You will note code #7 states; use of this code indicates the package in question is made with a resin other then the six listed above, or is made of more than one resin listed above, and used in a multi-layer combination.

Again because Low Density Polyethylene and Poly Olefin Ester are used and are two different resins the recycling code #7 must be used.

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I'll come back and edit this post later, this is still a huge work in progress. I'm still trying to figure out my pots and pans, tupperware measuring cups, etc.