Plastic Safety

This week's green challenge is a little more safety/health related. Ultimately, our health and the health of the planet is why we are doing this anyway.

Be careful when microwaving food in plastic containers. The possibility of the chemicals in the plastic migrating into your food is real. The FDA has advised that these occurences are within safety limits, but I gotta think some people may not want any of this. Using approved glass or ceramic in the microwave is a safer choice.

This migration of chemicals is most likely to occur when plastic is aged, cracked or comes in contact with fatty foods. If your reusable containers begin to show signs of breaking down, find a new use for it, such as a container for screws or sewing supplies or recycle it. Signs of deterioration include discoloration, cloudiness and scratches.

So this week, go through your reusable plastic containers and inspect them. Sort out those that are no longer safe for food storage and find another use for them. If you have kids or grandchildren, it shouldn't be difficult. If you cannot think of anything right away. Set it aside for a week, if you still don't have a use for it, recycle it or donate it to someone you know that would use it.

* Much of the information used in this post about plastic breaking down came from  It's Easy Being Green, by Crissy Trask.

Challenge #3

If you are already participating in my challenge, awesome. If not, it's never too late to start. Change happens anytime, anywhere.

So this week's green challenge is a no-brainer. Recycle!!! There truly is no excuse anymore. Your trash collector I'm sure offers recycling for an extra charge. If you don't find it worth the cost, I understand. Most areas have a location to recycle items for free. Some places take more items than others. Take a few minutes to google recycling facility information in your area. Recycle everything you can. It's worth it, it doesn't cost much, or can be free.

You will be saving room in landfills and possibly saving our ground water from contaminants. There are too many reasons to recycle, if you really need me to list them, comment below or email me (mah3381@yahoo.com) and I'll type out a list for you and find your local options. If you like the idea of adding a few bucks a month to your trash service, shop around. Different trash services provide different recycling services, some take more items than others, some cost less than others. Obviously, I'm for recycling everything you can.

Currently I live in an apartment and my city offers free drop off sites around town for single-stream recycling. They take most items and you don't have to sort it. I even received a free big reusable bag to collect my items in that I store in my laundry room by going to the main recycling facility. There are things that are not taken at these drop sites, including batteries. I save those as well, in a plastic grocery bag. These are taken at the facility and at different events around town throughout the year. So I save them up, when I hear of an event where they are taking all items for free, bang. Batteries are recycled and kept out of landfills, hardly any effort, way better planet.

So, if you recycle, great. Keep it up, and remember you can recycle many products you use on the go. Take them home with you and recycle, especially that bottle of water that you drank while running errands. Instead of dropping it in the nearest trash can, find a recycling receptacle or take it home, big change with minimal effort. We can do this for our planet. If you don't recycle: here is your invitation. You have waited long enough, ask your friends and family. More and more people are recycling these days, but we need that trend to continue until everyone is doing it, all over the world.