Being Green: Part One, dishes, plastic, and the US.

Have you ever wondered about those dishes you serve your family's dinner in? I know I do. I started to become concerned last holiday season, when every time I turned around some other toy was being recalled for lead. All of them came from China. Suddenly, I started to realize that EVERYTHING in my house was made in China. Even the dishes. Which made me wonder - if the paint used on toys has lead in it, who is to say that the paint used on my DISHES wouldn't also be filled with lead? From that day on, I vowed to shop American whenever possible.

It occurred to me that this decision was good for me and my community in many ways. (1) I am supporting American jobs. (2) "Made in America" products travel a shorter distance to get to me, thus using less oil and energy. And (3) In my mind, fewer questionable substances.

My first block came when I tried to buy dishes for the family. I'm a fan of stoneware - good, hearty, use for everything, dishware. It TURNS OUT that it's very difficult (and very expensive) to find made-in-America stoneware. They're out there, I just can't afford them right now. It's not like I can run to any second-hand store either, as I said before, practically everything is made in China.

So, I turned away and stuck my head in the sand until I can afford them. Dejected, I ignored the dishes until I became aware of BPA and PVC. What are these? Well, substances found in certain plastics that will find their way into your food given the right circumstances. Substances that are found to bring less-than-desirable results to the human body. Basically, in my research I have found that anything besides a little recycle symbol with a 5 inside of it, means that your plastic is toxic. It's not quite that simple - or drastic, but if you do the research about it, you will find the same. If you don't know what I am talking about, look on the bottom of a plastic bowl. See a triangle made out of arrows? See that number inside? THAT'S the all-important number.

Now, here was my concern - I can't give my kids stoneware. They try to help (think Barney's "clean up, clean up!") Then they break. I need plastic for those occasions that the plate ends up the floor. So, I went to my cupboard to see what I had. Guess what I found? Lots of 7's and "made in China's. JOY. Out they went and in came a whole host of new products:

I now use PYREX glass bowls and (safe) plastic lids for food storage. Did you know that PYREX was made in the USA? I happened to get a great deal on Amazon.com over the Memorial Day Weekend.

I bought plastic plates, bowls, and cups for the kids at Publix. Arrow Plastics are made in Illinois, and sold in a few places. One being Walmart. Another being our local grocery store.

I purchased us all new water bottles from Kleen Kanteen. Made with stainless steel, I don't worry about the affects of plastic or aluminum. They also have a safe plastic sippy attachment for your kiddos.

For lunches, I am investing in the lunchbox bento for my entire family. I bought one for my husband to use this summer, and try out. So far, so good. So long cheapie lunch bags, plastic bags, and juice boxes!

Since I am doing away with excess plastic, I also went ahead and purchased some new bags for my produce. A user of reusable grocery bags, I thought it was so stupid that I brought home plastic with my produce. So, I went ahead and replaced those too. I have yet to use them (got them last week, just after I made our weekly run). They seem simple enough , and I love how the set comes with items meant to keep my produce fresh longer. Less waste is green too!

So, those are the steps we've made as of late. "Being green" is one of those things that you can't ever be "good enough" at. Recently, at my evaluation, my principal asked me what areas I could improve. I included lesson plans and parent contacts as mine - because those are two things that we can NEVER be "good enough" at. There's always some new way to teach something, and there's always a parent that could be called for a situation. Being green is the same. There's always some way that I could do with less, make more out of something already useful, or advocate for world change.

To your right, under green living, is the soft landing blog. That site taught me a great deal about how to best protect my family from unwittingly given chemicals in their food. I also wanted to give you a few more "food for thought" websites and online stores:

- Not Made In China: A blog that discusses toys that are made and not made overseas.

- Still made in the USA: Products and goods made in the USA.

- Reusablebags.com: A GREAT all-in-one store for green goods. I recently purchased my reusable produce bags, Kleen Kanteens, and Laptop Lunch Box all from this online store.

These all deal with how we store and eat our foods, as well with buying American. Tomorrow, I will "school y'all" (yes, that's a southern phrase) on the actual foods.