Want a Green Xmas? You Should Probably Start Now

Look, I know Halloween is not even a week behind us, but if I’ve learned one thing as a parent it’s this: it’s really hard to put off Christmas shopping and not (1) overspend (2) disappoint and (3) feel just really awful about child labor/carbon footprints/wrecking the environment. So, theoretically, I’m starting to plan for the holidays now.

How exactly? Well, I’m not sure, but I’m after a bit of research, here’s what I’ve come up with so far. Continue reading »

Many Pantry Staples Contain BPA

Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Del Monte green beans. Star-Kist tuna. Juicy Juice.

A Consumer Reports (via Change.org) test found that the 19 products, all common and popular packaged foods, contain some amount of the chemical Bisphenol A. BPA, as you’re surely aware, is public enemy No. 1 these days in the world of family food, as it has been linked in some studies to reproductive problems, breast and prostate cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

Even some SIGG water bottles contain BPA, so the fact that Chef Boyardee raviolis turned up some amount of the stuff isn’t that big of a shocker.

But you know what is?

Continue reading »

The New Bad Boy on the BPA Block

If you were one of the parents who went racing around for a new BPA-free alternative after the big Sigg announcement this summer, sit down. We’ve got another one for you - and this is a doozy.

Z Recommends - who initially broke the story of how bogus Sigg’s BPA-free claims were - has a new story of water bottles gone bad that makes Sigg’s look like they’re candy coated. Continue reading »

They Say: BPA-Free? Maybe Not So Much

Apparently tests run on supposedly Bisphenal-A (BPA)-free baby bottles have turned up positive…for BPA.  A study sponsored by the Canadian government was run in advance of a planned BPA ban, and as a control, bottles not made with polycarbonate plastic (which usually contains BPA) were tested, along with the known BPA-containing bottles.

What they found shocked health officials.  There were traces Continue reading »

Sebelius Shares Ideas to Fight Obesity

It’s no surprise to anyone who’s been, well, out in public pretty much ever, that there’s a serious obesity epidemic in this country. Two out of every three American adults are overweight and so are one out of five children. Obesity in childhood can lead to a host of health problems later in life, and is the biggest single market for later developing diabetes.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke at a conference on obesity and prevention this week, and touted some new strategies suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help combat the obesity epidemic.

Among them are bringing more grocery stores to underserved areas, expanding schools’ physical education choices, and encouraging breast feeding.

I feel uniquely qualified to comment here since I actually do fit in the obese category. These are all good ideas, Continue reading »

BPA Found in Glass-Jarred Baby Food

So much for glass being the way to go to avoid BPA. Canadian researchers have found the toxic nasty every parent is hellbound to avoid is lurking inside the glass jarred baby food we all thought was safe. Continue reading »