Monday, July 13, 2009

Aluminum Toxicity or a side of phthalates anyone?

I was putting some left overs away one night and ran out of plastic clear wrap. I just did not know what to do, leave it open and have the food dry out or throw it out. I would of never thrown it out, that is a huge money waster. I decided to put a plate over it to use as a lid. This really got me thinking. I had already stop using ziplock type bags and managed to beat that challenge. Well I decided to try a new challenge. Stop using clear plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Oh my goodness, am I crazy? Well I didn't think so at the time but now I'm starting to think I really am crazy. One would think this would of been a easy task.
Why do this? Well first of all it was going to save me some money. I'm all about saving money in any possible way so this was a no brainer. But we cannot forget about the environmental aspects of this challenge too. Certain types of plastics are made with chemicals that leach into your food. In general, the more flexible the plastic, the more likely it is to contain plasticizers called phthalates. Some are harmless but others are toxic and cause cancer. The FDA has not yet required labels on plastics but some (Clorox) are choosing to do so to keep us informed.
Read up about it here
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_5_14/ai_108149612/

Aluminum foil is another alternative for you to cover your food. A good thing is that its recyclable and you can now buy recycled aluminum foil. The bad thing is that you cannot microwave it. But something you might not know is that your body can absorb aluminum into your body. The digestive track, skin, and bodies tissues. Aluminum Toxicity is a real danger and you should read up a little bit about it. There is so much information about it that I just couldn't write a small paragraph about it.
Aluminum Toxicity
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art7739.asp

I'm still working through this challenge to this day. I have stopped buying clear wrap or using it all together. The stuff just freaks me out now. I recently bought some aluminum foil and will use it just until I get enough covered containers. But once that's done, its out with the aluminum foil too. We do not use anything to cover our food in the microwave, which has not been a issue because we rarely have any left overs and when we do I just recook the food. The part that has been the toughest is putting food in the fridge. Ive been able to find a few vintage Tupperware containers but not nearly enough. Ive been on the hunt for glassware with lids but that seems to be the hardest to find. I do not have the money to go buy brand new ones and really do not want to. I'd much rather go find some in 2nd hand stores or yard sales. I guess maybe save some from ending up in our landfills. I have found 1 item that is glass. Its literally that hard to find them.

So as you can see this is a up and running challenge still. I hope you get inspired by my findings and maybe start a challenge of your own. Sit down and calculate how many plastic wrap or aluminum foil packages you buy each year. The total will be your savings if you choose to take this challenge. But do not do this challenge strictly for the money saving aspect. Think about how much toxic chemicals you will keeping away from your family. We cannot keep all toxins away but we can try our best to keep as much away as possible.
If you need help with this challenge, feel free to email me. I am always willing to help out anyone. All questions welcomed.

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