It seems we live in a world where consumers have to be ultra-educated about the things we buy, from "organic" food to supposedly safe plastic food containers.

Erin at Stroller Strides sent me over to a site with 5 Easy Steps to make your home a healthier place for your kids, from knowing which plastics to use to making your own nontoxic house cleaning products.

Did you know that all plastic products have a number system, from 1 to 7, to tell you what kind of plastic? You should avoid plastics with numbers 3, 6 and 7, which, ironically, most baby bottles are made from.

The number should be on the bottom of the container, but it's not always.

In my drawers, the Aveeno baby bottles aren't labelled; maybe because they're made in the UK. The Playtex sippy cups are 5. The Ziploc plastic storage is 5, too.


They might be dishwasher and microwave safe, but that doesn't mean they're not leeching chemicals. Yuck.

I just read an article about the two young guys who started Method, the cleaning supply company. You can get their products (in the great packaging) at Target. Anyway, they're totally shaking up the proctor&gamble world by actually making safe products. Watch for their book in May, Squeaky Green, a home-detox guide that reveals some of the industry's nastier secrets.