Plastic, children and the great outdoors!
With all the commotion around toy safety and plastic safety during the past year I started thinking about my plastic uses and how I could lower my dependence of plastics. In my home we now use mostly glass jars to save things in the refrigerator. We have always recycled, but we pay close attention to reusing plastic bags, cleaning them or using them for necessary task (cleaning up after our dog for example).
plastic toys
When we go outdoors we are very dependent on plastic products: tents, bowls, bottles, backpacks, etc. I did not research the background of all these products but rather came up with a list of resources that may inform or make folks think about plastic. I don’t think we can stay away from plastics on our expeditions (except you are Craig Childs or an outdoor survivor guru), but I wanted to write about how it is possible to reduce the use of harmful plastic in our everyday lives .
The number one question I had was: With the popularity of SIGG bottles on the rise, does anyone know the plastic properties of the mouth piece of the children and sport version of their water bottle?
Here is there answer:
“In terms of the tops, the primary ingredient is Polypropylene (PP), which is recyclable and collected separately from the Polyethylene (PET) used to make disposable plastic water bottles. The white material on the SIGG screw tops is Santoprene, which is a thermoplastic rubber used to help ensure a secure, leak-proof seal. The material used to make SIGG bottle tops fulfills the requirements of materials intended to come into contact with food as described in: FDA, CFR, Title 21(2004) 177.1520 a) (3)(i)(c)(1), 8b) and c) 3.1a Olefin polymers.”
Thank you SIGG for your answer and it seems so far that your bottle tops are as safe as any plastic can be.
I am a bit leery of the FDA so I wanted to know more about these plastics. I found good safe supporting resources about Polypropylene but ould only find resources about Santoprene that talked about all its great qualities for different uses but not for consumption. So I throw this question out there:
Is/Why/How is Santoprene safe for use as a plastic for the top of a water bottle?
Here are the plastic resources that I came across:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-santoprene.htm
http://www.vp-scientific.com/polypropylene%20properties.htm
http://trusted.md/blog/vreni_gurd/2007/03/29/plastic_water_bottles?page=1
Information about products:
Stay tuned because I will be reviewing their trainer cup in the near future. This bottle is Free of Bisphenol-A, phthalates and PVC. Keep your toddler green, clean and pure.
I have this great airtight stainless steel food container to review in the next few months. I will take it out camping and have my daughter use it and see how it withstands the test of time. It looks very promising.
In my mind I also see a lot of promise in using ‘wet bags’ during different outdoor activities. I have not done this yet since I have not found someone to supply me with one. Keep reading and sharing your ideas, maybe you will inspire me to try out more products and tell you about it.
Heidi
P.S Some of your may be interested in this blog: www.fromdatestodiapers.com
