Recycling Plastics: By the Numbers

One day in my office, we received a new recycling bin. It has one side for aluminum cans and the other side simply said “plastics.” I can’t remember what it was, but my boss wanted to toss something in the plastic side when our business manager said, “No, you can’t do that” and explained whatever he had that was plastic couldn’t be recycled with things like water bottles. His argument was the bin only said “plastics,” which rather makes sense. How do you know what plastics to recycle? You have to go by the numbers. If you look on the … Continue reading

Too Much Lipase

My daughter rarely takes a bottle. My fulltime job is staying home and taking care of her, so there isn’t any need for her to get nourishment from any place other than me. Every once in awhile, however, I get curious about how she’d handle taking breast milk from a bottle. For about a month, I was pumping and storing milk in case of an emergency. I figured if something happened to me and I’d be unable to breastfeed her, it would be nice for her to have a little comfort from breast milk while she was slowly weaned off … Continue reading

A Safe Drink: Chemicals in Baby Bottles and Cups

Water is good for you. But when water, formula, milk or juice is stored in a container that leaches chemicals, the nourishing drink that you’ve prepared for your baby turns into something more – a chemical soup that you don’t want anyone to drink, let alone your child. Recently, there has been a lot of concern over a specific chemical, BPA. What are the concerns with chemicals in baby bottles and cups? As plastics are heated in the microwave or the dishwasher, they can release chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA). This particular chemical mimics the female hormone estrogen, and too … Continue reading

The Best Plastics to Buy

While reducing the amount of plastics that we use make good sense, sometimes it is hard to avoid them. We may need plastic plates and cups for children who would be in danger from glass or heavy stainless steel. And some of the food products we buy, even that organic yogurt may come in a plastic container, and the organic free range chicken may come in a plastic wrap. Still, some plastics are better than others when it comes to the chemicals they release and the easy of recycling them. Here is a guide. The next time you are out … Continue reading