Buh-Bye BPA!
Here's a great story about one mom's efforts to make her daughter's preschool toxics-free!
Seattle mom Katalin Marky shares her story about her efforts to make her daughter's preschool toxics-free.
One day I happened to drop off my daughter at her pre-school around snack time. The kids were being served tomato soup with rice, and I noticed the hot soup was served from a plastic pitcher into plastic bowls. I winced as I thought of BPA and other chemicals that might leach into the food from the plastic dishes.
The following day, I went into the kitchen and spoke with the cook, who showed me the dishes and cookware. All the kids’ dishes were pretty old plastic, and the teflon coating was so worn out on one of her non-stick pots the bare steel bottom was exposed. I checked the plastic pitchers used for the hot soup and I found that they were relatively old pitchers made out of hard, clear plastic, and marked with a “7”- all signs they were likely made of polycarbonate plastic and possibly contained bisphenol A. The mixing bowls were too small, so she used a plastic bowl for mixing and occasionally storing leftover canned tomatoes because there were simply no other options.
My daughter goes to an excellent non-profit daycare center that provides nutritious meals all year round, but I had never gone to the kitchen and checked out the cookware or dishes. These are not the things a parent usually thinks about when choosing a childcare center – but they are very important.
After speaking with the Director, I decided I would make a proposal to the Board to upgrade the kitchen supplies with dishes made out of safe and environmentally friendly materials. Everyone without exception supported my proposal!
Today, the hot soup is being served from sturdy glass pitchers and the older children use glass bowls. For the younger kids, I researched and purchased BPA-free plastic bowls made from recycled materials. We also acquired a stainless steel sauté pan, a large stainless steel mixing bowl, and glass containers with lids for storing leftover tomatoes.
It has been a fun project, but I’m not done yet! Next, I would like to reduce the amount of canned food used in the center. There is nothing wrong with soaking beans overnight and cooking them the next day – is there?!
Toxic Preschools
I went to a new play/pre school cooperative class today run by Peninsula College out of PA. After awhile we were led into the "big Room" to play which is actually a newly redone gym. There is a super tough looking carpet over cement and new paint, all of which you can smell very strong. After about 10 minutes in the building the top of my throat was burning. When I commented to the teacher she said that her husband had been in there and noticed the smell too, but said it would "probably go away".
Is there anyway to have a qualified air quality person check this place out or require any treatments to lock in out gassing ( I know they are available for carpet and paint). If you would have smelled it, you would be shocked. It effectively gave me a headache after awhile.
I think the moms are so desperate to have a school like that in this area and I don't know what I should do about taking my daughter back. I don't think I can do it in good conscience and would totally be the catalyst for change if I just knew how to approach people with facts and solutions.
There are a lot of little kids being exposed to this horrible off gassing in a closed in area every day.
Please help!