Toxic PVC

PVC is the most toxic plastic of all. Yet most lunch bags, picnic rugs and other water-resistant items such as raincoats and umbrellas are all made from PVC.

Alternatives are hard to find in major chain stores but I have found for example raincoats and umbrellas made from nylon stocked in small independent stores. So go out there and support your local small businesses! PVC-free picnic rugs and lunch bags are the ones that are really hard to find. I hence stock those in my store www.ashnjuls.com.au:

Remember to avoid colour coated metal such as paper clips and binded notebooks - those colour coating often contains PVC.

You can find more info on PVC here: http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/pvc_the_most_toxic_plastic/

Veggies for kids

Sometimes it can be a challenge get my kids to eat their veggies. Each of my kids have their own favourites. For eldest son, it's lucky that he likes home-made pumpkin soup. I use my own chicken stock as the base then add in pumpkin, garlic, onion and whatever veggies I have in the fridge that day.

He takes his pumpkin soup to school for lunch (he likes to add brown rice in his soup) in the Green Attitude Insulated Lunch Container:
http://www.ashnjuls.com.au/Stainless-Steel-Lunch-Box-Insulated-p/ga500.htm

  

His lunch is nutritious (full of veggies!), he loves it and it's so easy for me to get his lunch ready in the morning!

Coffee anyone?

Since I started working part-time, I've been needing that extra cup of coffee in the early afternoons just to keep me going. Instead of using disposable coffee cups, I've been using Klean Kanteen's insulated stainless steel water bottle. No waste and I get $0.20 off my coffee - why not?

Detailed product info and review can be seen here:
http://www.ashnjuls.com.au/Klean-Kanteen-Wide-Insulated-Stainless-Steel-Water-p/kkwideinsulated.htm
Klean Kanteen Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle

The Beginning

I started looking for plastic alternatives for my kids after learning about how toxic plastic is - not just for our environment but for our bodies. I looked around all the plastic bowls, plates, containers, spoons, forks and of course toys (!) that my kids have and I was horrified. I soon started on my journey to reduce our plastic usage as much as we can.
It's been three years since I started on my eco journey. I wasn't a greenie prior to this so everything was very new to me. During the past three years, I've learned so much from my eco-consicous friends, neighbours and customers. My eco business www.ashnjuls.com.au has grown so much because of them. Thank you all!
I would like to use this blog as an opportunity to share my experiences and information that I learned from others on my eco journey. There will be some questions too. Hopfeully I can get some conversations going in this blog! Stay tuned :)