Klean Kanteen makes these adorable stainless steel sippy cups in a variety of colors that will differentiate your child’s sippy cup from the others in the room. Often, just having a stainless steel sippy cup means you can easily find your child’s at a playgroup or at school. They contain no BPAs and have a wide mouth so you can fit ice cubes into your child’s drink on a hot day. The other good thing about the wide mouth is that it makes this sippy cup super easy to clear. You can see down inside to make sure no milk has become gunky at the bottom.

If you’re looking for a water bottle to get someone as a gift or to get for yourself, you might enjoy looking at the beautiful “lifestyle” SIGGs. These are works of art. I don’t know where they find their graphic designers, but SIGG sure gets some good ones.

If that does not float your boat, then SIGG also offers what they call “traveler bottles” which offer a more conservative look with solid colors.

The handles adjust two ways, which means you have a comfortable way to carry your goods.

One drawback is that it’s a bit plain. You can get it in black or white. Although you won’t win a fashion contest with this shopping bag, you’ll certainly have a durable and long-lasting bag to use for grocery, or other, shopping.

If you want a bag with more visual excitement, then this selection of wild and colorful bags might be more up your alley.

If you’re also a parent, you might wonder what the exact danger is and how to keep your children safe.

Phthalates have been shown to cause reproductive and neurological damage, because it’s a hormone disruptor. (I gave up my nalgene bottle after learning the plastic container could leach hormone disuptors.)

What is the Definition of Phthalates?

According to the Chicago Tribune, phthalates are: “synthetic chemicals found in industrial and common household items, including PVC plastics, cosmetics, personal care products, plastic toys, vinyl products and products with fragrance.”

Some ways you can avoid phthalates include:

1. Read Ingredient Lists: Sadly, phthalates can legally hide under the term ‘fragrance’ so it might be wise to avoid soaps, shampoos and other care products with fragrance.
2. Avoid Plastics: As much as you can, use nonplastic drink containers such
   as SIGGs or Klean Kanteens instead of plastic sippy cups or plastic water bottles. You can use a variety of nonplastic lunch containers for yourself and your children.
3. Use Different Plastics: Some kinds of plastics are not as bad as others. For instance, Laptop Lunches sold by Reusablebags.com are supposed to be safe.
4. Never Use Plastic in the Microwave: Just to be on the safe side, never use plastic in the microwave. The heat can leach dangerous chemicals from the plastic into your food.

The reusable utensils are made of bamboo and have been sustainably harvested. I like how they come inside their own carrying case to keep them clean.

This set is a fair wage and fair trade product.

I was shocked at the low price. These are on sale right now for $8.99.

Before I buy something, I’m often wondering how much use my little one will get from it. It drives me nuts to buy something she’ll only use for 6 months. Although the packaging says the blocks work well for children ages 2-3, I think the age is more like 18 months to 4 years. You can get a lot of use out of these. If you have a child that really likes to build, they’d probably use them even past the age of 4.

Our little one used these pots and pans outside where we were served “grass soup” and “pancakes” by our budding little chef. During a long car ride, the pans were used to “cook” while she sat in her car seat (who says you can’t take your kitchen on the road?). I also placed a bunch of magnets inside one of the pots, and she found several creative ways to play.

The age on the packaging says for 3 and up. My budding chef is not even 2 years old, and she greatly enjoys these.

Sometimes we can’t help but order something online, especially when we can’t get something we need in a nearby bricks-and-mortar store. But rather than encourage excessive waste and nonbiodegradable, polluting packing materials such as styrofoam peanuts—plus your inclusion on catalog and junk-mail lists—you can make yourself heard by including a note with your online order.

The blogger contiues to say that she’s even trained her local Chinese takeout place to leave out the plastic forks, etc. I think that’s a fantastic idea.

blue is made by the Thermos company and comes with a straw, so it’s perfect for older children ready to move beyond the sippy cup and also perfect for adults. This is something that can be used by you or your child for years, so it’s well worth the roughly $14.

While looking into the kid’s sippy cup, I noticed a pink nonplastic drink container. While it’s not exactly a fogo sippy cup, this is awfully cute: Soho Swirl Water Bottle
.

The friend I visited happened to be part of the inspiration for this website. My friends and I were shooting emails back and forth about how to reduce waste and the amount of plastic we use with our children. I realized my excitement about this topic and a website was born.

During my trip, we visited a playground when it was about 90 degrees. I had my SIGG, my daughter had her SIGG and my friend’s son had his Fogo. I felt great that none of us were using plastic water bottles. In that day alone, we saved at least 6 bottles (if not more). I calculate that three of us would have drunk at least 2 bottles each on such a hot day. Imagine how much we’d reduce plastic water bottle usage if we all used reusable containers and stopped using plastic bottles! =)

So much “green” fashion includes shapeless clothing made of fabric that droops and drags. I found it refreshing to find this skirt.

As my grandmother would say, “this skirt is different.” I almost want to dislike it because it’s so unusual — I often do that when I see something unique and then it turns out to be my favorite item and the one that gets the most notice — yet the unusual styling on the right side makes it a hot pick in my book.

Want to see more green and environmentally friendly clothing?

The goal of the organization making the bracelet (Everybody Green) is to raise $1 million for environmental organizations by the end of 2008. A portion of the purchase price of this $10 bracelet will be donated. The $10 includes shipping.

You can keep track of their progress raising $1 million with this donation tracker.