Mother's Going GREEN Day 36 - Food Storage

With everything I have learned on plastics and food storage, I have had to re-look at my food storage.

I have had plastic containers for I do not know how long maybe 5 years that I store left over food in. I tended to heat the food in those same plastic containers and my favourite container for cooking rice in the microwave is plastic. All that has to go....

In its place I have opted for glass dishes - they do have plastic lids but are #4 lids so a 'safe' plastic. The glass containers are nice as I can clearly see what is in them when storing them in the fridge and now do not have to take it out and open it. A quick glance lets me know what it is. They are great for reheating too - I take of the plastic lid and cover with a plate and microwave as usual. My rice cooking dish has also been replaced and now it has a lid so if I do not use all the rice I can just put the lid on and save it for another meal - no need to dish it out into another container.

Food storage is an important part of our life. I do not relish the idea of cooking so usually cook more than required so I can just reheat for a future meal. Which turns out too to be energy efficient - since it takes the same amount of energy to cook 2 cups of pasta as it does 4 cups. Reheating in the microwave takes less energy than cooking it again. But I am now getting off topic about food storage.

I will soon be looking into some stainless steel food storage options too. Mostly for school lunches and snacks on the go. Glass can be pretty heavy to carry around and with kids there is always the chance of breaking it.

Mother's going GREEN Day 31 - Computers and Such

I have been having some computer problems for the last several weeks. Finally, today a technician was out to have a look at the problems..... After a few hours we got it fixed but he did mention to me that it was probably time I got a new computer. "What a new one, this is only 5 years old" was my response. "Yes, but a computers life is only about 5 years" he said.

That got me thinking - if everyone has a computer which pretty much everyone does have that's an awful lot of computers being replaced every 5 years give or take a few years, and an awful amount of computers being made each year. I made a decision to hang onto this computer for much longer. Okay so it gives me problems, sometimes it can be slow, but it does the job I need it to do. When the time comes I will get rid of it the environmentally friendly way. My friends at Our Green Year speak to this (http://ourgreenyear.blogspot.com/search?q=e-waste). However, I also found a website that suggests much of the E-Waste is then just simply sent off to China, Nigeria, India and Pakistan (usually illegally) where it remains in toxic piles waiting to be recycled, poisoning the residents. http://www.greenlivingonline.com/HomeGarden/stop-e-waste-by-recycling/

So when it comes time to reinvest in another computer (I will try and make this one last another 5 years - by fixing it) I will ensure that the company I buy it from will also offer a good recycling program for it, when it's time comes. Here is another interesting site on all the hazardous chemicals in ones computer: http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=e8def77a-3a8f-420b-ad29-a9e08d03fca0.

Moral of this story: Don't throw out your computer or any electronics for that matter and be sure to recycle it ethically. With an E-Waste company that has ethical practises.

A side note on plastics: One of the comments I received recently was that their organic produce was packaged in an 'unsafe' plastic. This prompted me to check mine. What I had, all seemed to be in the 'safe' plastic. But what I did note though was my milk and juice are packaged in 'unsafe' plastic; whereas my old cleaning detergents (I had to blow of the dust and search the back of the kitchen cupboard for them) are mostly packaged in the 'safe' plastic. How ironic - I guess the cleaning companies just don't want any more poisons to leach into their already toxic product.

Mother's going GREEN Day 28 - More on Plastics

After I wrote my blog yesterday, I still felt somewhat confused about the whole plastic thing so I decided to investigate a little further.

I looked in my kitchen at all my 'plastics' and found that 99% of the time they had a little logo (as depicted on this post) or visit http://www.packaginggraphics.net/plastic-recycle-logos.htm. This logo is quite important as it tells you what kind of plastic it is or is made of. Here is a quick summary of my findings or for more detailed information please visit: http://www.lifewithoutplastic.com/factsonplastic.htm

Symbol with a #1: Polyethylene terephalate (PET or PETE) is used in soft drink, juice, water, beer, mouthwash, peanut butter, salad dressing and other similar containers. This kind of plastic leaches Antimony trioxide. The longer a liquid is left in such a container the greater the concentration of antimony released into the liquid.

Symbol with a #2: High density polyethylene (HDPE) is used in opaque milk, water, and juice containers or cereal box liners. This type of plastic seems to be safe however research is ongoing.

Symbol with a #3: Polyvinyl chloride (V or Vinyl or PVC) is used in toys, clear food and non-food packaging (e.g., cling wrap), some squeeze bottles, shampoo bottles, cooking oil, shower curtains, medical tubing, and numerous construction products (e.g., pipes, siding). PVC has been described as one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created. It has been strongly linked to asthma and allergic symptoms in children; may cause certain types of cancer.

Symbol with a #4: Low density polyethylene (LDPE) is used in grocery store, dry cleaning, bread and frozen food bags, most plastic wraps, squeezable bottles (honey, mustard). Use of this plastic also seems to be safe but research is still on-going

Symbol with a #5: Polypropylene (PP) is used in ketchup bottles, medicine and syrup bottles, straws, Rubbermaid and other opaque plastic containers, including some baby bottles. Again, this plastic seems safe, but again, research is still ongoing.

Symbol with a #6: Polystyrene (PS) is used in Styrofoam containers, egg cartons, disposable cups and bowls, take-out food containers, plastic cutlery, compact disc cases. It leaches styrene, which is an endocrine disruptor mimicking the female hormone estrogen, and thus has the potential to cause reproductive and developmental problems.

Symbol with a #7: Other This category seems to be for all the other plastics that do not fit into any of the other groups It is important to interpret this category correctly because it includes polycarbonate - a dangerous plastic - but it also includes the new, safer, biodegradable bio-based plastics made from renewable resources such as corn and potato starch, and sugar cane.

Polycarbonate (the bad one) is used in most plastic baby bottles, clear plastic “sippy” cups, some “sports” water bottles, metal food can liners, some juice and ketchup containers, compact discs, cell phones, computers. Polycarbonate leaches Bisphenol A (BPA which has been in the news of late)

There is also two other types of plastic that fall under code 7 are acrylonitrile styrene (AS) or styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Both AS/SAN and ABS are higher quality plastics with increased strength, rigidity, toughness and temperature and chemical resistance. AS/SAN is used in mixing bowls, thermos casing, dishes, cutlery, coffee filters, toothbrushes, outer covers (printers, calculators, lamps), battery housing. The incorporation of butadiene during the manufacture of AS/SAN, produces ABS, which is an even tougher plastic. ABS is used in LEGO toys, pipes, golf club heads, automotive parts, protective head gear. Again these 2 kinds of plastic seem okay but are still undergoing research.

So in a nut shell: Plastics with the numbers 2, 4 & 5 seem the safest so far with some of number 7. I am personally going to stay clear of all plastics numbered 1, 3, 6 and the bad number 7's. Although I am still weary of the number 7. And personally I figure if it does not have a label on it it is just plain bad.

This has now cleared up the plastic mystery for me and hopefully for you to.