Safely Sipping

While Dajuan was putting away clean dishes I found him patiently reorganizing our water bottle/travel mug/sippy cup cupboard. This of course was after he had opened the door and half of the contents fell on him - yet again. Being the supportive wife that I am, I jumped right in, rolled up my sleeves and began grabbing various liquid vessels deeming them inappropriate for future use. What a PERFECT downsizing opportunity! Dajuan commented, "I wasn't trying to downsize, I was just putting the dishes away". Welcome to the journey babe. It didn't take long for him to get into the spirit. And by the end of the 10 minute attack on this dreaded cupboard we had reestablished some semblance of order and had collected 15 items for downsizing.

First on my hit list was 1 champagne glass that I bought in college. After nearly 11 years of marriage I can say that I rarely drink champagne and I NEVER drink it alone. So what does one do with 1 lonely flute? Why give it to Goodwill of course - which I did after work this afternoon.

Next came the 3 Sea Dogs Helmet ice cream dishes that Dajuan and the girls brought home from a game this spring. These overpriced little souvenirs aren't even recyclable so to the trash they go. Speaking of souvenirs, another treasure destined for the trash bin were the 2 Disney character cups that Shayla and Kiera just HAD to purchase from the Disney Store when it was still afloat.

Still more items found themselves in the trash can this evening as we disposed of the last 3 of Kendra's sippy cups, complete with valves. With our 2 year old competently drinking from "big girl" cups with only occasional spills, we are safely through this stage and ready to leave it behind. While sippy cups seem convenient and harmless on the surface - preventing spills and promoting constant hydration for our little ones - they also tend to house black mold in every nook and cranny. Don't believe me? Go peer into the spouts and valves of the sippys lurking in your cupboards. I'll bet yours will take a one way trip to the trash can too!

This leads me to the next item in our pile of discards - the Nalgene bottle. Once a hiker's ideal water cask Nalgene became the red headed step child to the beloved Sigg when news of the dangers of BPA seeping from our water bottles hit the airwaves.
Like any good mother, I stuck our Nalgene bottles in the back of the cupboard and headed to Whole Foods to buy $17.00 Sigg water bottles. Little did I know, these "safe sippers" would soon be outed for having BPA in their liners. And so, all 3 of these bottles are going out with our recycling on Friday. Joining them will be 2 travel coffee mugs that haven't logged any miles for a few years.

Last, but not least comes the repeatedly used plastic tumbler that came "free" with an Olive Garden kids meal. While pursuing the safest water bottle for my precious babies, I was feeding them milk, juice, and water from this #5 plastic cup. So imagine how humbled I am to read this little ditty. My favorite part of the article states " (...(#5)plastics are considered safe for their original use, though any of them can leak toxins when reused repeatedly). Awesome. And so Mr. Olive Garden tumbler is going to the blue bin on Friday too.

All of this leads me to think that good old glass may be the way to go. Too bad I got rid of that lone champagne glass - turns out I might need it.