Going Green On a Budget: Reuse
Reuse
I am a huge fan of Reusable products and would love to share some of my favorites! Reusable products tend to be cuter, safer, and overall better!
Reusable bags.
For those of your who have started on a go green kick and have recently been saving money either by saving resources or recycling here is where I recommend you invest some of it.There is something about walking into a store with your reusable bags that makes you feel great! Truth Be Told you really should! I have about 3 different styles I use. Cotton netted stretchy bags, canvas bags, and those huge Whole Foods Bags. My favorite bag so far seems to be the netted bag.
They are about three dollars at your local Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. I love these because they stretch to fit around all the items in the bags. They can hold up to the weight or a gallon of milk and 2 dozen eggs plus some smaller items. I push these bags to the limit sometimes and they still work great! The giant whole foods bags are great as well because they are extremely sturdy and can hold a lot of items, big or small. Plus they only cost about 1-2 dollars a bag. I haven't worked with any produce bags or insulated but people swear by them. I'll update when I try them out!
Reusable Bottles.
Water bottles are one of the leading pieces of waste around and most of these have not even been tested for chemicals. You can only use them once otherwise they leech BPA and other chemicals into your used-to-be "Mountain Spring Water". The best way to reduce this waste is to by some reusable water bottles. My personal favorite for us adults are the Klean Kanteens. They use pure food grade aluminum, very little paint on the outside (which is why they don't do large graphics), and have never been known to have BPA or other harsh chemicals. I also love that once they start getting a little old (as if) they are 100% recyclable! Yay! Also Klean Kanteed always donates tons of their profits to organizations such as 1% for the planet, Breast Cancer Fund, and Healthy Child. They can cost you as low as 15.50 when you buy two 18 oz bottles.
For your child I recommend you get a good stainless steel sippy cup. We all know baby's and children love to chew on straws and sippy cups. With my daughter teething right now she is chewing on hers like no body's business. This is why I recommend the Safe Sippy. This brand offers only stainless steel products with BPA free plastic spouts. I love the features of the 2 in 1 Safe sippy, it is rounded to fit little hands, and easily goes from a safe sippy to a safe "I'm to old for sippys, I want to use straws" straw bottle.
This option is available in different colors at the Mom 4 Life store.
Reusable Lunch Products
Considering I'm breastfeeding constantly and my daughter is sensitive to many foods, I am constantly carrying snacks. I would not be eco chic if I carried my products in plastic baggies or even paper bags so I love reusable lunch items. I am a big fan of sandwich bags that are reusable and these are the bee's knee's. They are recycled sandwich bags that fold out to eat on. The are made of BPA, Phthalate, free recycled and recyclable plastic! They are a great buy at about $25 for five and super cute. They can be used with anything that a plastic baggie would normally be used for!
Recently I went to a pool party with my Attachment Parenting mommy group. This mommy had the best containers ever. She informed me they are made with stainless steel and the lids from recycled plastic. The go green shopping addict in me went "Ding, Ding, DIng". These stainless steel containers come in a trio of three for $25 dollars in a small, medium, and large size. They work great and keep your food fresh because the lids are air tight.
This last item is a reusable snack bag. It has a waterproof lining made PVC free with a lead free zipper. This bag is FDA approved and is actually machine washable. Amazing! Plus the outside is a cute cotton print of you choice and for $9.95 only, you will never need to buy those leeching plastic snack baggies again. When buying reusable lunch product look for things that say PVC, BPA, and Phthalate free. This optimized the chances that you are buying only the safest products!
I suggest that you always check out this site first as Mom 4 Life supports only mom made products of the highest quality!
These are the basics for reusable products and I hope to be posting some more tips soon. You can visit Truth Be Told for my previous Go Green On a Budget Tips, as well as tips on Cloth Diapering.