Making the Switch From Plastic to Glass

via thekitchn.com via npr.org

It seems that every other day there is a report that's released to let you know that something you commonly use may kill you!  We all know about the dangers of BPA, especially for young children, but now NPR has done a report on a study that basically says that no plastics are safe to come in contact with your food or beverages.  Here's the article via The Kitchn.  Here's a short snippet from the NPR report:

"Most plastic products, from sippy cups to food wraps, can release chemicals that act like the sex hormone estrogen, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives.  The study found these chemicals even in products that didn't contain BPA, a compound in certain plastics that's been widely criticized because it mimics estrogen.  Many plastic products are now marketed as BPA-free, and manufacturers have begun substituting other chemicals whose effects aren't as well known."

Yikes.  Want a double dose of yikes?  Watch Tapped.  My husband watched it (streaming from Netflix) a few weeks ago and vowed never to drink out of a plastic bottle again.  The documentary doesn't just cover bottled water, it talks about the dangers of all kinds of different  plastics.

via netflix.com

In the past I would have just shrugged my shoulders and gone on with my life after reading or watching this type of thing.  Since I have a child now, I'm much more likely to be motivated to change my ways when there is new information released that could affect my son's well-being.  I don't know what I'd do with myself if I found out that something I did, or didn't do caused my son harm in any way.

So here's what we did.

First,we got rid of all the flimsy plastic food storage containers and bright plastic bowls we were using for Little Man's food.  We replaced them with an Anchor Hocking 10 piece True Seal Storage set for $24.97 and a Kinetic Go Green Glasslock set of 3 17oz containers for $13.98.  Both of these seemed like a steal because other sets of glass storage containers were soooo expensive.  Like, $50 for 4 pieces.

via amazon.com

via amazon.com

A few days later my husband and I were in T.J. Maxx and I saw the Kinetic Go Green (the lids on these are awesome) sets for way cheaper than they were on Amazon, so I got a couple more pieces.  I should have known to look there first.  That's 3 four cup containers for $16.99.

It was tempting at first to keep our old plastic-ware because the price of replacing it with glass was so much more than the cost of plastic.  In the end, I'm so glad we made the switch.  The glass stuff looks so much nicer, and because it's not cheap I'll be more likely to make sure I don't lose pieces.  I had about 7 spare lids with no containers when I cleaned out my plastic stuff.

I'm not done though.  I still have a few more things to replace like water bottles and old scratched up mixing bowls.  I'll be keeping my eye out for some inexpensive glass or stainless steel ones.  I'm also searching for a non-plastic sippy cup that actually works.  All the ones I've looked into aren't that great, and on top of that they run about $15 (ouch) and up.  Oh well,  it's worth the cost to keep my child safe.