If you are thinking about making a big change in your life, and getting rid of the harmful toxin called BPA, the best place to start is in your kitchen.
Since most of this chemical is found in kitchen utensil, cookware and food storage units, these are the first ones that you have to change, but this isn’t all. There are small things that most of us don’t realize can contain BPA and can be harmful.
The easiest way to be absolutely certain about removing BPA from your kitchen is to get rid of everything that is plastic. Unfortunately, the companies that are manufacturing kitchen appliances, aren’t always on the same page with this, and you have to pay attention when buying appliances that don’t have BPA.
Start removing BPA immediately
The biggest problem with plastic is heating – many of us put hot food in plastic containers, and that is why we have a section on our site that is dedicated to help you find BPA free food containers. There you can find anything from BPA free plastic to stainless steel, and glass containers. These are the best way to go these days as we know more and more harmful things about BPA.
You can find it in surprising places
We don’t want to start bashing every manufacturer who is making things out of plastic, but to be honest, plastics are man made chemicals and there is still so much we don’t know about them. BPA is only one of the potentially harmful compounds found in different plastics, and even if it can’t be found in all different plastics, you can get other harmful compounds such as melamines from other types of plastic.
This is the reason why we would strongly recommend you minimizing the amount of plastic that you use in your daily life. Of course we can’t control everything, and you should not start stressing about it too much – there are things that you can’t control. Still it is a good idea to make your home kitchen BPA free – this way your body is able to cope with the small exposure that you might be receiving from other places.
One thing that most don’t realize is that the cutting board can be a serious source of BPA in your food. You are grinding the knife on the plastic and there is small grit that comes off every time and is left in your food. If you are cutting vegetables on a plastic cutting board that contains BPA, you can be sure that you are getting some in your salad. We recommend you get a BPA free cutting board, or even better start using a wooden cutting board. They are safer as they are also free of any other harmful plastic that we have not yet discovered.
Most people are afraid of choosing a wooden cutting board because it is supposedly going to be a lot of work – honestly the only difference is that you have to wash it by hand, and preferably immediately after use. Oiling it every once in a while isn’t that big of a problem.
Use BPA free food containers in your kitchen
After changing the cutting boards, you should realize that everything that can be in contact with your food, should not be made of plastic, or at least a plastic that contains BPA. Kids are more sensitive, and you don’t want your kids to have to face the consequences of something that you chose for them.
Any good parent wants the best for their kids, and the best is to give them the best possible health now and in the future. Make sure that the containers you use to store your food, and the kids lunch boxes are free from BPA, and even better, plastic free. This is already a big difference as even a small exposure can make all the difference.
Where do you and your kids drink their water from?
I know it can sound weird, but you should really think where your water is stored. Most of us drink bottled water without thinking about the plastic that is used to store it.
If you are afraid to drink the tap water in your house, we recommend you get a filter for your kitchen faucet that will make the water drinkable. This way you are going to get pure water without the plastics, in your own home. This system is a reverse osmosis water filtration system which is state of the art!
When you have chosen the filtration system, it is time to get BPA free water bottles for the whole family! We recommend the Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottle for this purpose as it is one of the most durable, and allround best bottles we have tested.
These bottles come in all sizes and in all colors so you don’t have to worry about finding a fitting bottle for each one. You can get them up to 64 ounces in size so you don’t have to worry about getting a too small bottle. Also the smallest one is for babies and it is 12 ounces. They come with all kinds of attachments ranging from sport caps to baby sip-attachments.
What’s next?
Are you still using plastic cookware, heating anything in a microwave with a plastic container? The next reasonable thing to do is to get rid of all plastic dishes and cups. You should get BPA free plastic glasses to use instead of your plastic mugs, and start using real glass and porcelain when possible.
If you have plates that are made of plastic, the same thing goes here as with the cutting boards. We are using knives and forks to grind on the surface of the plate when we are cutting our food in to smaller mouth sized bits. At the same time we are removing small particles of plastic in our food, and putting it in our mouth. What most of us need is just to get rid of the plastic, but some of us need to get something that replaces them. We recommend you have a look at this selection of dinnerware, and simply throw everything plastic in the trash bin. You should not take the risk of poisoning yourself or your family with those.
In the end, the changes are simple, but you simply have to accept the fact that there is a lot that you should change. Most of us will keep on noticing simple things in our lives that are made of plastic, and eventually replace them one by one to get the BPA free kitchen we are after.
