Getting rid of plastic

We have been on a slow but steady course to getting rid of all the plastic food storage containers in our house. There is still a drawer-full, but mostly for Starbeans to be able to explore and scatter its contents throughout the kitchen to his heart's content. Everything else is glass. Squeeze drinks out of a glass water bottles and I use a quart canning jar with a screw-top lid. The last thing to go was Starbeans' sippy cup (and good riddance). I didn't realize I had any other option than the Nuby Gripper Cup that we had gotten from his baby shower. Certainly they don't make glass sippy cups, I thought.

Then, I stumbled upon the stainless steel sippy cup from Klean Kanteen. It has a plastic Avent spout (the non-leaching "safe" pp #5), but the water is held in the stainless steel container. This means the water safer and tastes better: there aren't any dioxins, BPA, or any other toxins leaching in from the plastic.

The final straw came when, one night, I was dying of thirst and I took a swig out of Starbeans' Nuby cup. Gak!! It tasted like plastic-treated water. I couldn't believe that was what he had been drinking out of for the past year.

The longer the water is held in the plastic, the more it leaches. Likewise, the older the cup, the more it leaches. Or the more scratched it is. Or the warmer it is. Etc. etc. etc. Realizing what he was actually consuming was the kicker for me: it propelled me into action.

After researching it a bit and reading several online reviews, I bought two Klean Kanteen sippy cups with the idea of always having one clean and ready to go. I also bought two steel loop caps to go with them, so they can be used by our children as they get older and have outgrown the sippy phase.

They were quite a bit more expensive than a plastic sippy cup: about 16-18 dollars [depending where you get it], but I feel like the trade-off is well worth the cost. I have the assurance that he is drinking fresh, clean and untainted water. I like that.

There have been droplet-sized leaks around the rim of the Avent spout, but it isn't much of a deal to me. Starbeans drinks mostly water, so he isn't spilling anything stinky or staining around the house anyway. Other than that, no leaking. That has been beautiful, as every time I bent over while carrying our new diaper bag I would receive a shower from our old Nuby cup. Not anymore!! The Klean Kanteen is [almost] as tight as a drum.

Starbeans seems to like his new sippy cup as much as I do; he is always likes to point at the logo and say, "Globe." It is the perfect size for a toddler -- although I don't think I would recommend it for a baby. It would be entirely too cumbersome. We nursed exclusively for the entire first year, I didn't even break out a sippy cup for him until around that time. I am imagining I will do the same with our second baby, but even so: I don't think a 1 year old would have the dexterity to handle it. I've read similar things in the reviews.

However, there is another product on the market (new within the last few months, I believe) called Foogo by Thermos. It, too, has a stainless steel body but is equipped with two handles which seems like it would be easier for baby to maneuver. I plan to get two of these for our next babe, when the time comes.

Read more on plastics. And more.