Kinderville’s bowls, cups, and storage jars – I think I’m in love… August 12, 2009

About a month ago, I had had enough of worrying if my 20 month old was going to drop another breakable saucer from her highchair during feeding time. I don’t think she does it on purpose – it’s just her way of saying, “I’m done”, and I haven’t raced over to her chair fast enough to take it from her extended hand.

I started looking into plastic, BPA-free options but was then offered the opportunity to try out Kinderville’s high-grade silicone bowls, cups, and storage jars. The timing couldn’t have been better.

5 1/2 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches tall

3 1/8 inches wide by 2 3/4 inches tall

3 1/2 inches wide by 2 1/4 inches tall

What I love the most about all three products is how they’re so stable on a table. The silicone makes them almost seem like they “hug” the surface they’re sitting on. The bowls are versatile enough to be used as a small plate or shallow bowl and the cups are a perfect size that molds well in small hands. The storage jars have a great seal and I’ve found them to be really handy for both dry and wet snacks. The four basic colors have also helped with a routine, meal-time favorite of “which color would you like?”

All three of Kinderville’s products are:

• BPA-free, Phthalate-free, Lead-free, and bacteria resistant
• Microwaveable, dishwasher safe, and can be used in the freezer

What I also really love about these products is that they’re used throughout the day, everyday, and they’re worthy enough to be passed along to someone else who will appreciate them when I no longer need them.

I am not an employee of Kinderville. The products mentioned in today’s post were given to me by Kinderville to try out and review.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Product Review – The Safe Sippy 2 July 7, 2009

Discount code below!

Like most mothers, I’ve been through quite a few sippy cups. My daughter has tried BPA-free plastic ones, the stainless steel Klean Kanteen (which has always been a favorite), and recently, the Thermos Foogo Stainless Steel Straw Bottle. I chose the Foogo because I wanted a stainless option where my daughter didn’t need to tilt her head back to drink. I’ve always felt that’s a bit of a safety issue when a child is walking. I really like the Foogo, and so does my daughter, but the problem with it is that she always wants to press the button to release the top and although it says it can be used at 18 months, she’s just not strong enough to do it herself.

Well, I wish I had waited about 2 weeks because now there’s an old sippy available with a new twist – the Safe Sippy 2.

The Safe Sippy 2

The Safe Sippy 2 is the Safe Sippy original, but with the added option of a straw so it doesn’t need to be tilted to drink from. The Safe Sippy:

• is made of non-leaching stainless steel.
• has an 11 ounce capacity.
• has an easy grip insulating sleeve.
• has removable handles.
• is BPA, PVC, and phthalate free.
• has a no-spill valve.
• has a cover dome for the spout when you’re traveling, along with a travel plug to put directly on the spout so you won’t have an accidental leak.
• is dishwasher safe.

What I really love about this sippy, besides the list mentioned above, is that it fits in a typically sized travel mug compartment, the spout is slightly angled, and your fingers can easily fit into most of the mouth piece to clean it, although I do recommend using a pipe cleaner for the spout and straw. I’ve been using ones made by Dr. Brown.

I purchased this sippy cup through The Soft Landing, which is a favorite site and blog of mine for up-to-date, reliable information on many BPA, PVC and phthalate-free feeding supplies for children and babies. The Safe Sippy 2 can also be purchased at other US online sites and retailers and Canadian sites and retailers.

If you have the original Safe Sippy and want to purchase the straw and valve attachment, The Soft Landing will have them in stock 6 – 8 weeks from now.

The Safe Landing is offering readers 15% off any order through July 15, 2009 with no minimum purchase. Just enter “beinggreener15″ at checkout.

I am not an employee of The Soft Landing or Kid Basix, the company that makes the Safe Sippy. The product mentioned in today’s post was purchased for my own personal use.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

I never thought I’d see the day. March 16, 2009

This past Thursday, S.C Johnson announced that it will phase out all phthalates from their products and begin listing all ingredients on their household products.

S.C. Johnson will offer information about these changes through a website (www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com), which will be in both English and Spanish by the end of 2009, their toll-free number (1-800-558-5252) and on product labels.

S.C. Johnson Glade Candle

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Just add salt, pepper, and a little BPA February 20, 2009

I posted a while ago about how I made my daughter’s baby food and how easy it actually is to do so. I mostly used a “food wand” blender to puree her food, but I’ve also used a food processor as well. If you’re someone who has a food processor or blender in your kitchen, you really need to check out Z Recommends post from a week ago. They’ve listed many food processors and blenders and have listed if they contain BPA, PVC, and/or phthalates. Be sure to check out an update they did yesterday on the Hamilton Beach products they listed. Do yourself a favor and head on over.

Photo from Flickr by Jodiepedia

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Which food containers are safe to use? January 21, 2009

I’m often asked what food storage containers are BPA, PVC and phthalate free. Just a few days ago, The Soft Landing put together a great list with pictures. Take note and keep it handy for future reference.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Book Review – Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby January 14, 2009

For much of my adult life, I considered myself a “green girl” but when I became pregnant in early 2007, I discovered a whole new area of health concerns that I didn’t know about – plastics, personal care products and more. I used the internet to help with many resourceful sites on what to be aware of and what I needed for the arrival and care of my new daughter. How I wished all of this information could have been in one concise resource.

Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby by Jennifer Lo Prete and Melissa Moog is just that. Melissa Moog is the founder of Itsa-belly, a great resource for all things baby. This all inclusive book lists safer, eco-choices from clothing, bedding, skin care and baby wearing, just to name a few. So many specifics are given, like safer baby wipes with homemade wipe solution and better choices for non-toxic cribs and mattresses.

Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby:

• shows you how “going green” and making “safer” choices doesn’t have to be more expensive.
• shows you how “greener” and “safer” options are more easily available than you may think.
• gives specific items to consider with company web sites.
• provides you with a very helpful glossary of important terms.
• gives you a “green” resource directory with web sites of associations and blogs.
• scatters eco-friendly tips throughout the book.

I myself wish I had something like this book before I was even pregnant to help me with understanding the importance of avoiding parabens, BPA, phthalates and other harmful components. This book is a must for anyone considering becoming pregnant, is pregnant or has a baby.

Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby can be purchased directly through Itsabelly, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

For the holidays choose safer, natural toys November 14, 2008

Recently, I wrote about introducing my daughter to toys made of safer, natural materials. My desire has been to try to limit her exposure to lead, BPA, and phthalates, all of which are extremely harmful but even more so to small bodies.

This isn’t an easy thing to do. You can’t always rely on safe toys being sold in conventional places. Many of the products sold there contain the harmful components mentioned above. I’ve always just ended up doing research myself on individual toys and just searched for them all over the internet.

I used to feel uncomfortable about well meaning relatives and friends purchasing toys for my daughter that may not be the safest choices and with the holidays coming up, this could be a time of “plastic overload”. I found, though, that there’s an easy way around this. When asked what they can get for my daughter, I just suggest a store that has a variety of choices with a high standard for safety.

One of those stores is Natural Pod. Natural Pod is a Canadian company that was started by individuals who were just interested in finding safer toys for their own children. Their site has a variety of beautiful toys for babies, toddlers, and young children. These are toys that you’ll want to hang onto for generations to come – how often have you been able to say that about typical toys you come in contact with?

They have lovely toys for babies:

Organic Soft Block Set

Stacking toys for toddlers:

Nesting Birds

Toys that inspire imagination:

Chef's Kitchen and Hutch

And toys that keep your child active:

LikeaBike Forest

Not to mention others, like musical instruments, bath toys, arts and crafts, and dolls just to name a few.

Lucky you: Get 10% off your first order at Natural Pod when you use the code “GCM08″ through December 31st. Be sure to pass this information along to any family members who may interested in purchasing holiday toys for your little ones.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

A PVC-free stroller rain cover finally found! November 7, 2008

Update February 19, 2010: Orbit Baby has redesigned their strollers. The Toddler Rain Shield reviewed below has changed in shape and size due to this redesign. Please see my review of the current Orbit Baby Rain Shields to see if they will fit on your stroller or car seat.

Update to this post: See my review of Orbit Baby’s Toddler Stroller with Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 material.

Back in June, I read a study conducted by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice on PVC plastic shower curtains. The study determined that vinyl shower curtains contain toxic chemicals that can cause serious health problems to the liver, central nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems. The shower curtains used in the study were purchased from popular stores across the country.

What really alarmed me was summarized in a Los Angeles Times analysis stating that:

“The study found that these shower curtains contained high concentrations of phthalates and varying concentrations of organotins and that they released as many as 108 volatile organic chemicals into the air, some of which persisted for nearly a month.”

Persisted for an entire month?!!! We shouldn’t be surprised, though. Have you ever noticed the lingering “smell” in your bathroom after you hang up a new plastic shower curtain? It’s a toxic cloud that’s permeating through your entire home. Needless to say, after reading the report, I went out and purchased a PVC-free shower curtain (100% EVA vinyl shower curtains are safer). You can find them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Target, Macy’s, Sears, and many online sites.

Now that you have some background information, I’ll get back to my intended story. It was only about a month ago that I was out with my daughter in her stroller when it started to rain. I stopped walking, took out the plastic stroller cover provided with the stroller, and proceeded to attach it. As I did so, I immediately remembered the report as I began to fasten the PVC plastic cover on. I wouldn’t keep my daughter in a room filled with toxic chemicals – why would I encase her in a smaller and denser volume of toxic air? I took the cover off and dashed home instead, thinking a little rain would be obviously less harmful that the alternative.

And so this started my search for a PVC-free stroller rain cover. I’ll tell you, it wasn’t easy. It was even hard to find one online. Believe me – I literally searched for four days. There’s a happy ending to this story, though.

Just when I was about to give up, I discovered that Orbit Baby makes a PVC-free, chlorine-free, and phthalate-free rain cover for both its toddler size stroller and infant car seat. I wrote to the company and asked them to confirm this, which they did. I explained my desire to find these items for myself and my blog readers. They generously offered to send me both covers so I could see if they would work with other strollers and car seats.

Below you will find a list of strollers and car seats that were on display at my local Babies R Us this week. I fitted the Orbit covers on each one to see if they “reasonably” fit. Only a few didn’t fit, as I describe in the list below. Remember, the Orbit covers are designed specifically for Orbit equipment, so none of the strollers and car seats were a perfect fit. In all cases, some adjusting was needed, and should you try to use the Orbit stroller cover with alternative equipment, you will need to attach Velcro tabs or ties yourself to the top of the cover near the handles of the stroller (velcro tabs are already on the sides of the covers).

• Bugaboo Frog Toddler Stroller
• Bugaboo Bee Stroller
• Quinny Zapp Stroller
• Quinny Buzz 3 Wheel Stroller
• Maxi Cosi Foray Stroller
• Maxi Cosi Perle Stroller
• Maclaren Techno XT Stroller
• Maclaren Lacoste Ryder Stroller
• Maclaren Kate Spade Ryder Stroller
• Maclaren Lulu Guinness Stroller
• Maclaren Quest Sport Stroller
• Maclaren Triumph Stroller
• Maclaren Volo Stroller
• Chicco Cortina Stroller
• Graco Tour DLX Travel System (without the car seat in it)
• Graco Ipo Stroller
• Graco Quattro Tour Stroller – Adequate fit but a bit short where the child’s feet will be
• Graco Metro Lite Stroller
• Baby Planet Endangered Species Stroller
• Peg Perego Aria Stroller
• Peg Perego Pliko P3 Stroller
• Peg Perego Uno Stroller
• Peg Perego Skate – NOT A GOOD FIT
• Chicco Trevi Stroller – Adequate fit but would need long Velcro tabs or ties to keep cover in place on top
• Chicco Cortina Stroller – Adequate fit but would need long Velcro tabs or ties to keep cover in place on top
• Chicco Capri Stroller- Adequate fit but cover is big on this stroller
• Combi Cosmo Ex Stroller
• Stokke Xplory Stroller
• Thea & Co. Wendy Bellissimo Stroller – Adequate fit but cover is large on this stroller
• Joovy Kooper Jogging Stroller
• Baby Trend Expedition Jogging Stroller – Adequate fit but large section of cover flops over due to shape of stroller
• Jeep Overland Limited X Jogging Stroller – Adequate fit but large section of cover flops over due to shape of stroller
• Kolcraft Liberty Limited Jogging Stroller – Adequate fit but large section of cover flops over due to shape of stroller
• Baby Jogger City Mini Single Stroller – Adequate fit but large section of cover flops over due to shape of stroller
• Baby Jogger city Classic Single Stroller -  NOT A GOOD FIT
• Phil & Ted’s “Sport” Stroller – NOT A GOOD FIT

• Maxi Cosi Mico Infant Car Seat
• Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP Infant Car Seat
• Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat
• Infant Safe Seat Step 1 Car Seat
• Chicco Keyfit 30 Infant Car Seat

Below are some pictures I’ve taken of the stroller cover on my own Maclaren Techno XLR stroller so you can see the fit and how I made some adjustments with the added Velcro strips near the handles of the stroller.

Side view

Front zippered window on cover

Tan Velcro tabs I added - Note how cover is doubled up in this area.

Velcro tab from Orbit

Unfortunately, these covers are not available in stores that carry Orbit equipment due to the fact that they come with the strollers and car seats already. If you’re interested in purchasing the Toddler Stroller Seat Rainshield or the Infant Weather Pack (car seat cover with mosquito net), you will need to do so directly through Orbit’s website.

In addition to Orbit being aware of the dangers of PVC and providing a safer product for consumers, the company has a number of “green” initiatives:

• Orbit has rid their supply of brominated chemicals and oil-based packaging inks.
• The company is selective about their travel and most of their employees get to work by carpool, bicycle, public transit, or hybrid vehicles.
• Orbit was the first business in Newark, California to request and pay for recycling.
• They offset 100% of their electricity needs through Renewable Energy Certificates and purchase carbon offsets to fund green initiatives for the environment.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Even more reasons to stay away from phthalates October 3, 2008

Take a look at a USA Today article that describes a study about mothers, their exposure to high levels of phthalates, and how they seem to have affected the genitals of baby boys. It points out the concern for girls as well once the hit puberty and have children of their own.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

EWG’s Report on Chemicals From Cosmetics Found In Teens September 26, 2008

Eco Child’s Play has written a great summary on the Environmental Working Group’s report of toxic chemicals from cosmetics found in teens. These chemicals include triclosan, phthalates, parabens, and musk, which have been linked to cancer and hormone disruption. Take a look at their site for the full report and suggestions on how to avoid these chemicals.