LILL’s LIST

My 17 yr old son is trying to eliminate artificial flavors and colors from his diet. He’s noticed that they aggravate his asthma and make it harder for him to focus. We’ve always read labels, but lately we’ve been poring over them like government lawyers looking for loopholes in fine print. After squinting at hundreds of bags, packages, boxes and jars, we’ve come to the following conclusion. The best way to get food that doesn’t have (as my son would say) that toxic crap in it is to get food in as close to its natural state as possible.

Granted, it would be best if we raised our own chickens and vegetables, kept our own milk cows, and ground our own grain and coffee. However, not all of us have the room, the time or the inclination for farming. So, short of cooking a chicken that was walking around in the henyard this morning, how do we get food in its natural state, not to mention not packaged in plastic?

One thing I’ve done is request freezer paper for my meat, rather than plastic film. Most supermarket meat departments have it. And if you ask them to, they’ll wrap your chicken legs or beef roast in it. If they don’t have it, ask them to stock it. You’d be surprised what supermarkets will do to retain a customer. They could even advertise that they have it for other eco-mindful customers.

Of course, the best way to be sure that your food is as pure as possible is buying organic. But what if, like us, you can’t afford the higher prices? Well, we compromise by buying our meat, milk and fruit organic whenever possible. My kids have grown up on organic milk and hate the taste of non-organic. I do too. It tastes flat, maybe because the cows have been eating grain, not grass. The milk we buy comes from cows who spend most of their time out to pasture and get silage in the winter, not corn. Actually, lately, organic milk isn’t much more expensive than non-organic.

For meat, we buy organic chicken, beef and pork, usually when it’s marked down on Sunday. Most supermarkets have a day when they mark down meat and will gladly tell you when that is. Just ask. If you’re lucky enough to have a natural foods supermarket nearby, they also mark things down, especially when they near their sell-by date. We don’t buy ham, bacon or hot dogs, except when the unprocessed ones are marked down. All of these meats are high in nitrates and salt.

Neither do we buy frozen dinners, chicken products like nuggets or patties or anything else covered in breading and fried. Have you ever looked at the list of ingredients in most processed frozen foods?  The picture on the cover shows a piece of chicken, some mashed potatoes and some green beans. Yet, the list of ingredients is ten inches long and you can’t even pronounce some of the words. Is it worth it for convenience, not to mention is it worth paying the high price of frozen dinners? I don’t think so.

Instead, we just overcook. When we make a meal, we make more than we need. The excess goes into our version of frozen dinners. Only, ours are more flexible, because we freeze the items separately in glass containers. So, one container will have four chicken thighs that have been cooked in BBQ sauce. Another container will have oven-browned sweet potatoes, onions and white potatoes drizzled with olive oil. Other containers hold rice pilaf, pasta with sauce or veggies, so that we can mix and match to our hearts’ content. Let’s see Marie Callendar do that!

It would be nice if we could buy local produce year-round, but in Maine, except for cold-weather greens, that’s not possible unless you have your own greenhouse. (Eliot Coleman, the author of several good gardening books, has one about growing your own veggies year-round, but so far we haven’t gotten motivated enough to do it. You might like to try.) So we try to buy veggies that have the least amount of pesticides used on them. Here’s a link to the Environmental Working Group’s list of veggies with the least and most amount of pesticide residue. You can even order a pdf file of it to take with you when you shop.

My shopping cart looks a lot different now. It has far fewer processed items in it and more fresh produce. Even with the many organic and natural items we buy, my costs haven’t gone up nearly as much as I thought they would. Actually, some weeks, we spend less, because we find bargains and mark-downs. What’s in your shopping cart?

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I don’t think there’s any question that plastic is losing its appeal with consumers. Like a lot of other things, plastic’s true cost on the environment and our bodies is making it look a lot more expensive when compared to natural materials. Bisphenol-A leaching from baby bottles and soft drink cans has recently been identified as a health threat and so have phthalates, which are used to soften plastic. Baby bibs made of polyvinylchloride were recalled because they contained lead.

Many of us are trying to eliminate or at least reduce the plastic items in our lives, but it’s not easy. When you look around your kitchen and bathroom, it may seem as though almost everything comes in plastic containers these days. Detergent, lotions, potions and food. For instance, where in the world can you find a bottle of ketchup that isn’t made from plastic? Or a bottle of shampoo?

If you’re under 45, you may not remember a world without plastic, but those of us who grew up in the 50’s and 60’s remember when plastic was the alternative rather than the first choice for many things that are made from plastic now. The most common materials in those days were glass and stainless steel. Maybe it’s time to reconsider those two materials, along with other natural substances, as you try to remove plastic and its chemicals from your environment.

Impossible, you say, to find substitutes for plastic? Difficult, maybe, but it can be done. Let’s start with kitchen plastics. Many people started to use plastic when the microwave oven became the most common way to cook. Not a good idea. Heating plastic releases bisphenol-A and other toxins. Much better to use glass or corning ware. If you’re addicted to frozen dinners, at least remove them from their plastic trays and cook them on a dinner plate. I use an old glass crockpot cover over the plate also, instead of a plastic microwave cover.

For storing food, why not use glass jars? I use large pickle jars to store flour, grains and coffee. They make good cookie jars also. You can often find them or something similar at yard sales, where I find a lot of natural material containers. For drinking bottles, we use stainless steel bottles from Kleen Kanteen. Ditto for travel mugs for coffee. And for making the coffee, we use a stainless steel percolator that makes much better coffee - and keeps it hotter - than those drip coffeemakers with the plastic baskets and water reservoirs.

For dish soap, I use liquid glycerine soap. I bring it home from the local natural products store, where I fill my own glass container from a bulk barrel. At home, I use a funnel to pour it into stainless steel bottles with small tops. It’s easy to pour out a little at a time that way. One goes to each bathroom sink and tub to be used like any liquid soap, while one stays at the kitchen sink for dishwashing. I do the same for natural laundry soap, which I also buy in bulk.

Toiletries are a real problem when you’re trying to cut down on plastic, because almost everything comes in a plastic bottle, and glass isn’t practical in bathrooms, where it could be a safety hazard. One approach is to buy plastic bottles, but then pour everything into stainless steel bottles. Another approach is to cut down on unnecessary products by using dual purpose things.

Do you know that you can use one bar as a shampoo and a bath soap? Burt’s Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar With Oat Protein and Pro Vitamin B5 smells divine, lathers amazingly and cleans hair and skin without drying or irritation. There are other brands out there also. Shampoo bars don’t need preservatives because they don’t have water in them and they don’t need plastic packaging. They’re great for traveling and last just as long as a bottle of shampoo, if not longer.

But what about all those lotions and potions that we slather on our skin everyday? They’re all in plastic bottles and we need them, don’t we? Well, maybe not, but we sure do like them. So instead of giving up skin softeners, why not go natural and soften your skin at the same time? Olive oil, coconut oil (which is solid at room temperature and smells really nice), jojoba oil, almond oil, cocoa butter and shea butter are all wonderful for softening and conditioning skin and many of them come in non-plastic containers.

Buy them in large containers and put them into smaller containers that you can stash where you need them. I keep a container of jojoba oil in my shower, so that I can pour a couple of drops into my wet hands and apply it to my face. I have Rosacea and jojoba oil is very soothing. It moisturizes without making my skin oily. I have coconut oil in a little tin next to the sink, so that we can apply it after we wash dishes. My daughter, who gets chapped skin in the winter, has a small glass bottle of olive oil next to her bed, so that she can put it on her lips and cheeks at night.

These are just some of the ways you can reduce the plastic stuff in your life. As you add more naturally derived materials to your world, you’ll find that it’s easier to think of ways to do without plastic. The human race has only had plastic for about a hundred years, and it’s only in the last forty or so years that it’s become so much a part of our lives. Almost everything that’s made of plastic has a better, more natural counterpart. We just have to use our ingenuity and find it.

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We all know the importance of staying hydrated. The method of choice for most people these days is to carry around a trendy, colorful plastic sports bottle filled with water. You know, the tough, hard plastic ones that everyone from bikers and hikers to active business folks to on-the-go moms tote around - not to mention students ranging from elementary to college. They’re perfect for an active lifestyle - light, durable and available in a rainbow of colors. However, new research has shown that these plastic sports bottles may pose serious health hazards.

The irony is that the hazard may actually come from the material that makes these bottles so attractive. Lexan polycarbonate resin, a plastic polymer accidentally developed by General Electric in 1953, was and still is a revolutionary material. It’s been used in a variety of products over the last four decades including compact discs and DVDs, bulletproof windows, mobile phones, computers, baby bottles and water bottles. Lexan is a perfect choice for water and baby bottles as it’s durable, doesn’t hold flavors or odors nor delivers any taste from the bottle material itself to the fluids it holds.

The Problem:

This is where the confusion begins.
Many folks assume that because it doesn’t impart flavor to the liquid it holds that it’s safer than other types of plastic bottles. Research findings published in 2003 by the journal Current Biology, show otherwise. These findings were the result of a study by Dr. Patricia Hunt of Case Western University in Ohio that questioned the use of polycarbonate plastics such as Lexan.

In1998, Hunt discovered that plastics made from polycarbonate resin can leach bisphenol-A (BPA), a potent hormone disruptor. BPA, a chemical found in epoxy resin and polycarbonate plastics, may impair the reproductive organs and have adverse effects on tumors, breast tissue development and prostate development by reducing sperm count.

BPA can be leached into the water bottles contents through normal wear and tear, exposure to heat and cleaning agents. This includes leaving your plastic water bottle in your car during errands, in your back pack during hikes and running it through your dishwasher and using harsh detergents. And, a 2003 study conducted by the University of Missouri published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives confirmed Dr. Hunts’ study conclusions but also found that detectable levels of BPA leached into liquids at room temperature. This means just having your plastic water bottle sitting on your desk can be potentially harmful. In this author’s humble opinion, the best thing to do is to avoid plastic altogether. (Side note: baby bottles made from polycarbonate plastics have quietly disappeared from the market despite industry assurances that polycarbonate plastics are safe)

The Solution:

There are two approaches to take to avoid exposure to BPA. First, if you are active and take water with you, switch to a stainless steel water bottle. But, be careful. Many products on the market are lined with an epoxy finish. This defeats the purpose. Make sure that the bottle is stainless steel both inside and out. Stainless steel water bottles are light, durable and hold both hot and cold liquids well. There’s a wonderful stainless steel water bottle called the Klean Kanteen. It’s available in a 27oz and a 40oz size and is available at www.greenfeet.com.

The second approach is to reuse glass containers such as quart sized juice bottles. Yes, they are a bit heavier but are good solutions if you’re in an office environment where mobility isn’t an issue.

Either way, to avoid bacteria build up, wash out your containers with warm water and biodegradable dish soap. Be sure to wipe the mouth of the container and the lids. And most importantly, let the container completely dry before refilling. Keeping any container continually filled with liquid can lead to bacteria developing and potential illness.

Keeping hydrated is extremely important year round - but especially during the summer. It keeps our systems functioning properly and is important in sustaining good health. Here’s a tip on how much water you should be consuming daily based on a formula provided by the Mayo Clinic: Simply take your body weight and divide in half. For example, if you weighed 150 pounds, you need 75 oz (9-10 8oz glasses) daily. Caffeinated and alcoholic beverages are dehydrating so for every glass of these beverages you drink, add an extra glass of water.

So, while you take care to only fuel your body with plenty of pure, filtered water, take the next step and ensure the container holding your water is safe.

Bottom’s up!

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