More than any other subject, Bisphenol-A or BPA brings readers to this blog. Without a doubt, it is the top search that leads readers here (mostly to my diatribe on BPA and the Infant Formula Industry). Undoubtedly concerned about BPA’s endocrine-disrupting effects on the human body, people are eager to learn more about the chemical and discover how they can limit their exposure to it. So, let’s talk about BPA.

What is Bisphenol-A (BPA)?

BPA is a chemical compound invented in the late 19th century by a Russian chemist. Manufacturers use this industrial chemical to primarily to produce polycarbonate plastics like plastic water and baby bottles, plastic children’s toys, pacifiers, CDs and DVDs, medical equipment and much more. It is also used to manufacture epoxy resins like those found in food cans, circuit boards, dental sealants and some paint.

In short, if it’s plastic it probably contains BPA. The US, on average, manufactures almost 800 million kilograms of the stuff each year. It is everywhere.

What’s wrong with Bisphenol-A (BPA)?

Oral toxicity of BPA is relatively low. For example, your average lab rat would have to eat 3.25 grams of the stuff to kick the bucket. But I doubt any of my readers would consider pouring themselves a bowl of BPA and chowing down.

The real concern regarding BPA lies in consistent, long-term exposure to the chemical. You see, BPA is a known endocrine-disruptor. The chemicals that comprise BPA–when compounded as they are–mimic estrogen in the body. Our medical and scientific community has known about BPA’s estrogenic effects since the early 1930s. That’s almost eighty years.

What are the health risks and diseases associated with exposure to BPA?

The risks are many, and great. As more research continues on the subject of BPA exposure and health issues, the chemical is linked to a greater number of diseases. This represents a short list.

• Diabetes and Insulin Resistance
• Lupus
• Breast Cancer
• Prostrate Cancer
• Reproductive System Cancers
• Ovarian Cysts
• Decrease in Male Fertility

But isn’t our exposure to Bisphenol-A (BPA) minimal?

“Minimal” is a subjective term.

The American Chemistry Council, PlasticsEurope and Japan Chemical Industry Association over at Bisphenol-a.org would have you believe that your exposure to BPA is minimal indeed and utterly safe, but do you really trust the industry–those who profit on the continued production of this chemical–to give you a straight and honest answer on its safety?

Sadly, a 6-year study on BPA exposure indicates that 95% of the adult population is so exposed to BPA that we actually excrete the chemical in our urine. A different study conducted in 2003 and 2004 concluded that 93% of tested children excrete the chemical through their urine. The chemical is also present in the amniotic fluid of pregnant mothers as well as the cord blood of the infant at birth.

When it comes down to it, do you want to to expose your body or your children’s bodies to any level of a known endocrine disruptor or human carcinogen?

What’s the government doing about bisphenol-A (BPA)?

While the US government seems to have little interest in protecting its population from the negative effects of BPA, other governments are taking the lead in fighting against BPA’s manufacture and use. On April 18th of this year, Canada became the first nation to ban the use of BPA in baby bottles thus helping to protect the nation’s youngest citizens from greater exposure to the chemical. Canada’s ban is slated to become law in October 2008. The City of San Francisco, always a forerunner on issues such as this one, banned the sale of products for young children that contain BPA (like baby bottles) in 2006.

If you are concerned about BPA exposure and would like to see your government follow Canada’s lead, contact your legislative representatives. (US citizens can do so here.)

How are we exposed to Bisphenol-a (BPA)?

While BPA is everywhere, food and drinking containers seem to pose the single greatest risk for BPA exposure for adults and children, while the fetuses are exposed to the chemical through their mothers. Breast-fed infants are exposed to limited amounts of BPA through their mothers’ milk while infants who are formula fed are exposed to approximately 11 times that amount through infant formula and plastic baby bottles.

Examples of Products Containing Bisphenol-A (BPA):

While this list is hardly complete, it should offer you a good idea about the types of products you should avoid if you intend to limit your exposure to BPA.

• Cans of Food: Cans of food are often manufactured with a lining that contains BPA. The purpose of this lining is to protect the food contained therein from the metal of the can. It also helps to prevent canned food from developing that off-taste that marks it as, well, canned food.
• Plastic Water Bottles: Water bottles made of polycarbonate plastic often contain BPA. The risk of BPA leaching from the bottle into your water increases with subjecting your bottle to extreme temperatures like sending it through the dishwasher or placing it in the freezer.
• Infant Formula: Cans of infant formula are a notorious source of BPA exposure. The lining in the cans of both powdered and liquid formula contains BPA. When the formula is fed to an infant, that infant is ingesting BPA. Indeed, 1 in 16 babies fed formula are exposed to harmful levels of BPA.
• Plastic Baby Bottles: Like polycarbonate water bottles for adults, plastic baby bottles also pose a risk for BPA exposure. The risk might even be considered greater since these bottles and the formula in them are often heated which increases the rate at which BPA leaches.
• Plastic Food Containers: Plastic food containers often contain BPA and, like baby bottles, the rate at which BPA leaches from the container and into your food increases with extreme temperatures. So microwaving your container is a bad choice as is freezing it.
• Other Sources: Without a doubt, food containers comprise our biggest source of exposure to BPA, but that does not mean it is our only source of BPA exposure. Indeed, BPA is an ingredient in many other manufactured products such as CDs and DVDs, baby pacifiers, children’s toys, sports equipment etc.

Limiting Your Exposure to Bisphenol-A (BPA)

While you cannot avoid exposure to BPA entirely, you can limit your exposure to the chemical by using appropriate forethought, caution and by purchasing products that are BPA-free.

• Glass Jars: As an alternative to canned foods, you can purchase foods in glass jars or jar food yourself with mason jars. While the lids on these glass jars may still contain an epoxy with BPA, that is a considerable amount less than a can that is completely lined with the same epoxy resin.
• Non-plastic Water Bottles: Ditch your polycarbonate plastic bottle and opt for a water bottle that does not contain plastic. Sigg water bottles offer an excellent alternative to polycarbonate plastic water bottles and are attractive. They also have a lovely line of kids bottles that could replace a BPA-containing sippy cup.
• Breastfeed: Breastfeed your baby and continue to breastfeed your child until they are ready to wean. By breastfeeding you not only limit your baby’s exposure to the BPA in the lining of formula cans, but you also limit your baby’s exposure to the BPA in plastic baby bottles. If you encounter difficulties breastfeeding look into support from organizations like La Leche League and consider milk sharing or donor milk programs that will get the good stuff into your baby’s belly.
• Use BPA-free Baby Bottles: If feeding your baby at the breast is not always possible, and you must use a bottle either occasionally or frequently, try using glass baby bottles or BPA-free baby bottles. We used glass baby bottles from Even-flo for my son. BornFree bottles are BPA-free and present an excellent alternative to polycarbonate plastic baby bottles.
• Non-plastic Food Storage Containers: My heart will always rest with mason jars since they’re relatively inexpensive and fairly accessible. I use them for food storage, not just canning.
• Other Sources: When it comes to children’s toys, switch from numerous cheap plastic toys to a few hand-selected wooden or cloth toys. There’s a handful of BPA-free pacifiers like those made by Gerber which are made of latex and those made by Binky which are silicone.

So what now?

If you got through that post, and still have questions feel free to email me at (jenny (@) green-mommy (.) com) and I will do my best to find an answer for you. (I’m still waiting to hear back from Meyenberg Goat Milk Products and whether they line their cans with an epoxy resin containing BPA). Just remember: understand the risks, limit your exposure when you can and contact your representatives to move in the direction of a safer environment.

There is nothing like the smell of fresh sheets hanging in the sun to dry.  It’s such a naturally clean scent–a scent that cannot  be paralleled by any artificial, petrochemical concoction.  It’s beautiful and, in some ways, it’s almost forgotten.

According to some tallies, machine-drying our washables contributes between 6% and 10% of our household’s total energy usage.  That amounts to between 660 KWH and 1100 KWH for the average American family.  Yes, that’s an awful lot–especially when you consider that drying your clothes is something the sun will do for free (at least in good weather).

While you’re chewing on that, keep in mind that tomorrow, April 19th is National Hanging Out Day.  So, in running your weekend wash skip the clothes dryer and opt for a clothesline.  Don’t have a clothesline?  Try hanging your clothes over a balcony handrail or over patio furniture, as long as air and sun get to the good they’ll dry beautifully in no time.

And if you’re unlucky enough to live in a community that disallows clotheslines, join me in protest of such rigid and environmentally unfriendly dictations by hanging your laundry to dry anyway.

Remember, every little bit counts.

Living in the mountains, very happily.

I am terribly late on this one. Wil tagged me ages ago so it’s about time I take part in the fun. So here’s my biography in six words.

Also, do you like that picture? It was shot and edited by a close friend of my husband. I love it.

And I’m tagging Tiffany, GreeneMother and Gruppie Girl and anyone else who wants to give it a shot. Thanks again, Wil, I liked this one!

It’s tough. My biggest issue is not the miscellaneous stuff, but clothing specifically. Clothing of a decent quality and attractive cut is difficult to find here. Sure, we have a handful of thrift stores that I frequent quite often, but little of that clothing is work-appropriate and most of that clothing is better suited for jog-suit loving old ladies, cleavage revealing teenagers or would-be lumberjacks. I can’t say I fit into any of those categories.

So, down to two grey cashmere sweaters I purchased secondhand and a thrifted flannel skirt (don’t even get me started on the underwear issue–suffice to say that the days of matching lacy bras and panties disappeared during the first few weeks of nursing), I loaded up my cart on Old Navy’s website forgetting that it was a GAP, Inc Company not, of course, that I should be purchasing new items anyway.

It’s just hard to feel so blah all the time, and it’s not particularly easy to dress well while observing the rules of the compact. Of course, if it weren’t for work I’d be happy in yoga pants and tank tops but such a wardrobe won’t get me too far in the office.

After my husband’s goading, and an unreasonably nasty response from me, I called Old Navy and cancelled the order. Instead, I purchased some handmade clothing on Etsy. So it’s saved, sort of. Sure, the shirts and skirts and underwear I purchased on Etsy are technically “new” but they’re made by artists who are paid for the work they do and it’s precisely the artists and craftspersons that we should be supporting.

Cross-posted on Mamas on the Compact.

So, I’ve started a Green Living blogroll so that we can connect with other green living bloggers.

Check out the instructions here. All you need to do is fill out the form, paste the provided code into your sidebar and I’ll add you as soon as I can.

Join now and expose your blog to others pursuing the green life. Help me spread the word!

NOTE: If you are having trouble submitting your site through this form, please email me at jenny (@)green-mommy(.)com.

Also, because I’ve been incredibly busy it may take me up to two weeks to respond to your request, but I will get to it eventually.  Please have patience–running after a two-year old while working full-time is no small task!

<a href=”http://greenmommy.wufoo.com/forms/green-living-blogroll/” mce_href=”http://greenmommy.wufoo.com/forms/green-living-blogroll/” title=”Green Living Blogroll”>Fill out my Wufoo form!</a>
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With only two years and a few months under my belt, I hardly qualify as a parenting expert, but there’s a few things that I’ve learned. I parent by the golden rule.  That simple, old adage of, “Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.”

In my experience, we parents view our children as obstacles that need to be mitigated or as property that needs to be contained or as little criminals who need to be trained.  You remember that old saying–the one that makes me cringe–”I brought you into this world and I can take you out.” It just belies  the thought that parents own their children rather than children owning themselves.   It concerns me, deeply, when children are treated with less respect than adults.

Like any other parent, I want to raise a kind, thoughtful, respectful and polite child.  It’s important to me that my son express his feelings well and without violence.  It’s important to me that he help others.  It’s important to me that he is generous with his things which, admittedly, is no small task for any two-year old.

I find that the greater amount of respect I show to my son, the greater amount of respect he shows to me, his father and those around him.  Love breeds love.  I treat him with the same compassion, respect and courtesy I would show anyone else.

It shows too.  When I injured my back last year, my son brought me water and sliced apples.  When I fell feverishly ill earlier this week, he rubbed my back and told me he would take care of me.  As I slept, he painted a picture for me.  He shares his toys and snacks willingly and joyfully with his friends.

I do not hit him, because hitting isn’t an appropriate response to anyone’s behavior–adult or child.  And punishment in our home is non-existent, because punishment isn’t a sufficient deterrent for poor behavior; rather, communication and education seem more effective.

Too often we confuse discipline with punishment. They are not synonymous.  Indeed, discipline also refers to instruction and fields of study.  It is education that our children need, not punishment.  In their hearts, the want to cooperate but restrictive parent-child relationships and focus on punishment inhibits their natural cooperation.

When we naturally expect our children to act respectfully, compassionately and politely  they do.  Still, even on the hardest days (he’s still two after all) my husband and I treat him as well as we expect him to treat us and it’s in this effort of cooperation and mutual respect that our family works smoothly, cohesively and joyfully.

Imagine a soup of garbage: plastic bags, toothbrushes, syringes, toys, packaging.  Now imagine that toxic soup swirling just beneath the ocean’s surface.  Got that image in your head?  Good.  Now, imagine that the soup is the size of two–yes, TWO–continental United States.

Only, the soup doesn’t just exist in your imagination; rather, it is very real and circulates.  Indeed, the Pacific Plastic Soup stretches from the coast of east to west from California to Japan and north to south from Hawaii to the Aleutian Islands.

While researchers estimate that one-fifth of the soup’s contents come from sea vessels, the rest comes from land.

The garbage hovers just under the surface of the water, making it undetectable by satellites, but those who’ve traveled through the pacific plastic soup tell tales of wafting through garbage for weeks.

It’s not only vastly unsightly, but it’s also dangerous for wildlife as well.  Autopsies of ocean-going wildlife reveal an array of human refuse in their stomachs: lighters, syringes, toys, plastic sacks and more.  It’s a sad thing to know that not only are we hurting ourselves, but we’re also killing animals with our wanton waste and rendering a huge section of the oceans virtually worthless.

What’s the solution then?  Stop using plastic, recycle what we have and keep it out of the ocean! Are you ready to commit to going plastic-free in 2008?  I know it will certainly be a struggle for me.

We all have strong points, but organization is not one of mine. Organization of time–yes. Organization of personnel–yes. Organization of projects–absolutely. Organization of things–absolutely not.

Perhaps that’s why I’m so drawn to simplicity and why I drool over home decor and organization porn (oh yes … Pretty Organized on Flickr I’m looking at you!).

This year one of my goals is to organize and decorate our home while maintaining the standards of the compact and respecting our goals of simplicity. Our home should be a haven, a sanctuary and a source of joy and it is my goal to make it just that.

I haven’t really started on any projects, but I was organizing our vast collection of books today and as I was sifting through them I started wondering just why I’ve been lugging them around for years. There’s books I will never use again, never read again but they still sit on my shelf. There’s books whose topics we’ve long since outgrown. I even came across my high school year book–why would I want to cling to that? Of course, posting books to Paperback Swap helps dilute the clutter and has been wonderful for our family and keeps us in new books when we need them.

There’s clothing we don’t wear often or that we have duplicates of. There’s my little dude’s stuff too–who knew a two-year old could accumulate so much. I come to work to find garbage bags filled with toys and clothes for him once every six weeks.

It’s almost insurmountable and it certainly is a hindrance to simplifying. After all, when I can’t find takers I just keep the stuff because loading it in the dumpster destined for the landfill seems so wasteful. (Before you start to suggest it: we’ve tried freecycle, free ads in the paper, flyers and donating it to charity but in this area of excess even the charity shops are struggling under an avalanche of stuff.)

So let me circle back: I need to create a happy place–a home that allows me to feel at peace rather than like I’m drowning in stuff.

We live in approximately 750 s.f., so we live small and small messes look awfully big. Still, I think it can be done. With a few coats of (low-VOC) paint, a little ingenuity and the support of my family I think it can be accomplished beautifully.

So, dear readers, hold me to my promise!

In the mean time, I’ll be looking for inspiration:

• Pretty Organized
• Apartment Therapy
• Organized Home

*Photo by house n baby on flickr’s Pretty Organized pool.

The 2008 elections are on my mind. Aren’t they on everyone’s mind? I’ve avoided talking about them because other, more gifted, not to mention more prolific bloggers can do better justice to politics than I can (you’ll find better things on his blog than drivel about the election). Maybe I’ve avoided talking about them because I’m still scarred by the last seven years of the Bush Administration.

Yet greenemother and her recent comment gave me the itch to address this topic. She has me pegged right: I am registered Green. I also agree with her that the Green Party just isn’t offering up any good candidates. Well, let’s be realistic: it never really has offered up any good or realistic candidates for the presidency. And, yes, I’ve voted for Ralph Nader before.

First things first, I think that all the candidates are largely the same and will behave largely the same once they’re in the White House notwithstanding the occasional wackjob. The American Republic will encounter the same kowtowing to corporations and the same lies that we encounter with every single president. It’s just about finding a candidate whose choices will have less catastrophic effects than those we’ve suffered the last seven years.

Secondly, presidential elections are grossly overrated. In our constant coverage of presidential elections, we lose coverage of small elections–elections for town council, or mayor, or county commissioners. Sure, our county commissioners might not have the ability to kill thousands of troops and civilians by sending them to war in the middle east, but they have an effect on how you live your life on a local level. There’s more to politics than the federal level. If you’re going to be politically active and if you’re concerned about the state of our government, you can’t neglect any aspect of the system.

The environment is important to me and protecting it is vital. The wars in the middle east that we’re involved in and gearing up for surmount the environment. Health care is important. Education. Civil Liberties. I could go on and on.

So, who am I voting for? I don’t really know. And I won’t know until I cast my vote. But, I’ll tell you this much: I’m not getting involved in the hype; I’ve got too much to act upon right now.

I do like Mike Gravel, though. What are your thoughts?

I don’t drink coffee. Rather, I don’t drink coffee any more. I used to, and I loved it.

I still love it. I still sigh at that rich deep aroma. I still admire latté art. I still salivate at the sight of a thick crema atop a single shot espresso–especially if it’s served with a twist.

Maybe it’s all just reminiscence from a youth spent drifting in and out of coffee bars, discussing literature and politics over my beloved espresso romanos. Ahhh … to know everything there is to know again. Or maybe it’s lingering memories of working as a barista during college and serving my husband (then boyfriend) all sorts of lovely caffeinated concoctions.

I didn’t give up coffee because of concerns over fair labor practices and I didn’t give up coffee because of its environmental impact. Both of those reasons are admirable indeed.

No. I gave up coffee because I didn’t feel well when I drank it. I also gave it up during my pregnancy because I was concerned about its effect on my son. So, I quit and I haven’t started up again.

All was fine and well until the company I work for purchased an espresso machine. Now, despite being clean for three years, I find myself tempted daily to whip myself up a macchiato or other treat.

You might say, “Well, stop whining and get yourself a damn cup of coffee already!”

But, alas, it’s not that simple. It never is.

You see the machine they purchased is a Nespresso LeCube. That’s Nespresso as in Nestlé as in the Nestlé Boycott.

If I can help it (read: if I realize it’s a Nestlé product before I purchase rather than after I purchase) I don’t purchase anything from Nestlé. I don’t like supporting a mega-corporation that profits off of unfair working conditions in developing nations or that contributes to the death of approximately 3000 infants each day with their unethical marketing of infant formula.

Then there’s the issue of waste. Each single serving of espresso or coffee is made from a pod of coffee. Do you see those odd little multi-colored metallic plastic bullets in the picture? Those are pods. With the increased packaging, there’s increased waste both in extraction and disposal. Not to mention there’s something that just doesn’t sit well about an espresso made from a plastic bullet. Where’s the joy of grinding and tamping down those grounds?

Then there’s the fact that coffee sidles right up to petroleum for its place as the second most traveled commodity in the world. Think about it: between the coffee plantation somewhere in the developing world to middlemen, importers, exporters, roasters, suppliers and coffeehouses that accounts for a lot of travel. More travel means more fossil fuels burned and more overall pollution.

Now it’s time to talk about labor standards. I know for certain that those pretty little coffee-filled pods of Nestlé aren’t sourced from plantations engaging in fair trade practices. In many areas of Africa young children are sold into slavery to work on coffee and chocolate plantations. These children are sold into slavery to feed our addictions.

Sad isn’t? Heart-breaking isn’t it? But is it sad or heart-breaking enough for you to make a stand? Of course, that’s where fair trade and ethically traded goods come into play.

So considering the true cost of those free cups of coffee and espresso offered at the office, I’ll skip it all. I don’t need to start contributing to the problem again.