If you can find a soft lunch box that’s PVC-free, go for it. If it doubt, look elsewhere. Karen found cute PVC-free lunch boxes at both Target and Wal-Mart.

Lunch boxes made of PVC may be dangerous because many of them have tested positive for high levels of lead in the recent past. In response, many companies have cleaned up their acts.

It never hurts to be on the safe side, especially when you’re talking about something that will hold your child’s lunch day after day.

According to CEH, vinyl lunch boxes purchased before 2006 should be tested for lead. You may purchase a lead test kit at most hardware stores. The one pictured here is from Ace.

Stay tuned for some metal lunch boxes!

Image via Ace Hardware.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in August 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

I’m a nice person overall. And I generally don’t like to tear down products made with good intentions. At least I hope the intentions here were good. Still, why would you produce a supposedly “green” product with PVC (polyvinyl chloride), a product material that major retailers like Target are systematically reducing in their stores (in items like toys, infant products, packaging and fashion accessories)? If you missed it, here’s the Dangers of PVC post from earlier.

What are dryer balls?

The makers say that they will soften your clothes and help prevent static cling. They are billed as green because you can stop using fabric softener and dryer sheets. But, most (if not all) of these dryer balls are made of PVC.

I even caught my beloved Gaiam selling them. They don’t make them, but I believe they are selling Nellie’s Laundry dryer balls. If you enlarge the photo on Gaiam’s site, you can see the web address. It takes you to Nellie’s Laundry site. Also, I asked Gaiam’s customer service if the dryer balls they are selling are made of PVC, and they confirmed that they are. Nellie announces proudly that her dryer balls are made of PVC. She isn’t the only one who sells these though. Dryer balls are everywhere it seems.

You don’t have to buy something like this to soften your clothes. There’s a great dryer sheet/dryer ball alternative that’s been around for a long time.

This solution isn’t new. In fact, it’s been all over the place like kudzu. But in case you haven’t heard about it or considered it:

Add 1/2 cup vinegar and/or baking soda in rinse cycle to soften clothes. Put essential oil on cloth in dryer if you want fragrance.

No, the clothes won’t smell like vinegar, but you do need to measure. If you pour it in wildly, yes, your clothes will smell like vinegar. That happened to me once. I’ve never tried the baking soda option, but I may still since the laundry well never runs dry. Also, I’ve never experienced any static cling with the vinegar option.

I personally think that vinegar gets clothes softer than dryer sheets. And it is much cheaper as well. (Visit Deb Ng’s famous Simply Thrifty post: 66 Uses for Vinegar!)

Fun project: If you like to sew and want fragrance on your clothes, try making a little pillow and put the cloth with essential oil inside.

So, does anyone think dryer balls are green? Have you tried vinegar to soften clothes?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

PVC (polyvinyl chloride), recognized by the recycling symbol 3, is very difficult to recycle and usually ends up in a landfill. Most recycling centers won’t accept it. Less than three percent of PVC is recycled, and some estimates put that number at less than one percent! That’s really unfortunate, but it’s not even the main problem.

Communities surrounding factories that make products containing PVC are suffering from groundwater and air pollution. But you don’t have to live near a factory to experience effects from PVC. It leaches out of materials. It’s that new car and vinyl shower curtain smell. When children chew on vinyl toys like rubber ducks, they can be exposed to dangerous phthalates. PVC also gives the gift of dioxins when it is produced, recycled or burned. Dioxins are bad, bad.

You can read more about the health and environmental dangers of PVC at www.besafe.net, a website of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ).

When alternatives are readily available, why use something that releases chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects? (Source for PVC dangers info is CHEJ).

Several large companies have already developed PVC phase-out plans, meaning they will sell far fewer products (and packaging) containing PVC. Some of these companies include Wal-Mart, Honda, Microsoft, Mattel and Sony, among others.

CHEJ gives you 10 ways to take action, including purchasing PVC-free products. CHEJ also discusses Safe Products and suggests contacting the manufacturer if in doubt. So, check it out. Green blogging friend Rebecca of Green Baby Guide also has a post up today about avoiding plastic toys. And she recommended a great blog featuring BPA-free baby gear news and reviews: The Soft Landing Blog. I added it under Shop Green in the blogroll.

And please come back soon for a discussion on a “green” product made of PVC.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family