Teenage skin care

It's hard to find Certified Organic, Australian-made skin care for teenagers that is also palm oil free.

Brands for teenage skin care are often developed by parents out of concern for the chemicals their teen children are exposed to.  Parents want personal care choices that are gentle yet effective, without compromising on fashion or fun.

Natural products for teens should provide a safe and sustainable alternatives to chemical cosmetics for teenage skin care.  Openness in the beauty industry and inspiring girls to make smarter choices for their bodies and the environment.

To appeal to teenagers, a skin care range needs to 'emotionally 'teen', functionally 'green'.   

Teenagers and chemicals

Research by Dr Rebecca Sutton who has studied the effects of four chemical families on girls aged 14-19 as part of her research for the American Environmental Working Group (EWG), produced in September 2008, showed that teenage girls’ bodies contained residual traces of 16 chemicals commonly found in everyday personal care products.

There are so many products in use around the home that identifying the exact source of these chemicals is difficult. But we can minimise these chemicals in our bodies by choosing beauty products that do not contain chemicals and are certified organic.


Australian Certified Organic (ACO) is Australia’s largest certifier for organic and biodynamic produce. ACO endorsement for any commercial product stipulates that food and other products must contain 95 percent organic ingredients, with the remaining five percent restricted to natural ingredients meeting stringent requirements. The product must adhere to strict national production standards, undergo annual audits, and show total transparency - allowing any person to trace the origin of every ingredient.

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Recycling, the art of re-invention

 

A gorgeous new product we have in store at Biome has inspired this post for Planet Ark's National Recycling Week being celebrated right now.

Made from reclaimed cotton shirts, this little recycle yourself doll on a key fob is accompanied by a booklet that tells its story from cotton on the bush transforming to a smart business shirt, then to a discarded shirt, before its re-invention into this quirky doll.  As the story concludes: 
And today, someone who reminds you that in your heart you have the strength to recycle yourself into whatever you want to be.

Isn't that so true about all recycling?  A material or an ingredient has a useful life in one form, but when that use comes to an end there are so many ways it can be re-invented, re-loved, re-used or upcycled. Upcycled being the term de rigueur that refers to the process of converting waste or useless products into new materials or products of better quality.

We don't recycle at Biome - well not much...

With all the deliveries of stock we receive in our stores, we gather a mountain of cardboard boxes and stuffing of various kinds from bubble wrap to polystyrene beads, shredded paper and compostable beads - but we take joy in not recycling.  Don't panic!  We re-use -- rather than recycle -- as much as we can.  Where ever we can re-box (as in re-use a box) or re-stuff (re-use stuffing materials) we will.  In fact, we even have our neighbours on the bandwagon.  The restaurant gives us their wine cartons, the laundromat gives us freebie magazines and the coffee shop gives us boxes.  They love it because their bins are less full and we love it because we don't have to buy boxes and stuff.  Some of our suppliers send re-boxes to us as well, then we use them again to send to you...so that is at least three useful lives before any more energy is used to recycle them!

Where can I recycle certain things?

Planet Ark's Recycling Near You program is gold. That is, Planet Ark deserves a gold medal for all their incredible work to promote education and uptake on recycling.  They have a telephone hotline, or, visit the website where you can type in your location and it delivers links on where you can recycle certain things.

The page for recycling in the Brisbane area has a wealth of leads.  For example, one link tells me what materials I can put in the household kerbside recycling bin in Brisbane
All these materials are collected:

• Glass Bottles and Jars (but not drinking glasses and plates)
• Aluminium Cans
• Aluminium Foil
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Office Paper
• Envelopes Without a Window
• Envelopes With a Window
• Phone Books
• Pizza Boxes (scrape the food out, some grease is ok)
• Egg Cartons (unless you know someone with chickens that can reuse them)
• Cardboard
• Steel Food Cans (does a magnet stick to it? it's steel if it does)
• Steel Paint Cans (empty)
• Steel Aerosol Cans (empty)
• Milk cartons
• Juice cartons
• Tin-plate or aluminium lids from steel food cans
• Plastics marked with
   

The last one is great news - they accept all plastics marked from 1 to 6, which is pretty much most firm plastics these days.  This was not always the case.
We aim to ensure that every plastic item stocked at Biome has a recycling symbol stamped on it - without that symbol there is no hope of it being recycled.

If you are into re-crafting, there are so many books and internet resources on how to make new things from old things.
Happy re-inventing!

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Six reasons we love Goodbyn lunch boxes

Six new colours, six reasons we love Goodbyn...

(1) In our house, Goodbyn are the only lunch boxes we have bought for two years, which I feel makes them great value. The children have used theirs every day for school for two years and they are still going strong.  The plastic is sturdy but flexible, and there are no hinges to break.

There is no need to buy a new kids lunch box each year. The kids can apply Goodbyn stickers to refresh the design they want on their lunch box.

(2) Only one lid to keep track of - and it always seems to come home (unlike the 10 or so other containers in my drawer whose lids have disappeared, or vice versa).

How to close the Goodbyn lid? First, push down firmly on the two horizontal ridges across the middle, then pinch together all around the outside edges. Once the kids get the knack it is easy.

(3) The kids love packing their own lunch - what more do you want in the mornings? :-) For some reason they enjoy filling the little compartments and making their lunch look all creative and neat. They seem much more motivated to pack their own (or, is that because they want to sneak extra treats in...?)

(4) The layout of little compartments makes it easier for me to pack the lunches when I need to! It breaks things down into five sections that require less brain power to fill - sandwich here, fruit there, some dip there, crackers here and a sweet treat there. Done!

(5) Goodbyns are made from food-safe plastic, no PVC (unlike most soft lunch boxes), no lead, no BPA, phthalate-free and its made in the USA.

Rather than a faceless manufacturer, we know the story behind who makes them and who is accountable for the safety and environmental performance.  Goodbyn makes public their product testing results

(6) There's something about Bento boxes and a plastic wrap-free lunch!  Lunch seems much more appetising when it is not squished inside sweaty plastic wrap, but rather laid out in the Bento system. The Japanese have served food in this way for centuries after all.

Six new fruity colours now available in Australia in Goodbyn original and Bynto sizes, plus ice packs, three types of stickers and replacement bottles.

Visit here to see all of Biome's lunch boxes.

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What is a super food?

What is a super food? And why are we interested?

At Biome, we have a little belief statement that guides all we do and offer to our customers.

We believe in...

the power of simple choices
respect for all who share our planet
plants, not petrochemicals
sun-grown, not synthetic
hand made with heart
honesty in labelling 
a 2nd useful life for everything, and
nature having the answers ... if only we will listen

On the last point, we do believe that nature has the answers for so many diseases and problems affecting our planet, and that is why we are interested in so called "super foods".

Super food refers to foods with a high phytonutrient content and the term is often used to imply those foods have certain health benefits.  You might have heard of blueberries, Açai and Goji berries and wheatgrass.
 
Of course, such claims are wide open for marketing misuse about their powers, so as with everything, add a healthy dose of scepticism and be sure of the quality of the produce and how it is grown, processed and transported.  And, eating fresh fruit in season locally has got to be better for you. 

Aside from nutrition, scientists and environmentalists have for many years alerted us to the potential loss of disease curing plants when rainforests are destroyed - another huge incentive to save our rainforests.  As this article explains, indigeneous peoples have used rainforest medicinal plants for thousands of years and modern pharmacologists have derived a number of drugs from such plants, including one with anti-HIV properties.

You could say that all the natural skin care and green cleaning products that Biome has chosen offer solutions or super powers from nature, like a natural deodorant relying on mineral salts, or skin soothing and healing rose hip oil.  Let's call them "super skincare" and "super cleaning"!  We applaud natural product manufacturers who are looking for the answers in nature rather than synthetic chemical formulations.

More about super fruits

Blueberries are exceptionally high in antioxidants, they can help treat urinary tract infections and because of a compound contained in the blue pigmentation of blueberry skin, they help protect eyesight by accelerating the production of retinal purple, a substance critical for good vision (source: Australian Blueberries).

While Blueberries are native to North America, the Amazon is home to the  Açai berry (the berry of a palm tree). Not only does the Açai Berry have a highest antioxidants of any fruit, it also contains protein, fiber, and Omega 6 and Omega 9 essential fatty acids.

See Biome's range of products containing super foods online and in our stores, including the Amazing Grass organic Kids superfood powder and Bio-bubble probiotic.

We would be happy to hear from you about your favourite super food....

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Non stick cookware - a cautionary tale

A cautionary tale

So far this story has followed a plot-line similar to that of so many human-created chemicals.  Invented by accident, its benefits are found to make life easier or more enjoyable for people - and more pofitable for companies.  The product is released on the world without caution, before proper testing of its health and environmental impacts.  Decades later, the chemical is found to be harmful in its manufacture or use.  The company knows this, but covers it up, until a group of concerned citizens fights for long enough to gain the attention of Government regulatory bodies.  Think CFCs, cigarettes, BPA, DDT ...

It is the tale of a synthetic fluropolymer called Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) - most well known by the DuPont brand name Teflon - along with its stablemate PFOA.  Among the many uses for PTFE is making non stick cookware.  PFOA, which is cancer causing and lethal to birds, is used in the manufacture of PTFE.  It is also used to make oil and water-repellent coatings on carpet, textiles, leather and paper, like microwave popcorn bags.

PTFE was invented accidentally in 1938 by a scientist who was attempting to make a new CFC refrigerant. In the early 60's Marion A. Trozzolo, who had been using the substance on scientific utensils, marketed the first US-made Teflon coated frying pan, "The Happy Pan." (Wikipedia)

In 2004, DuPont (who still uses PFOA in the manufacture of PTFE) paid US$300 million to 50,000 residents living near one of its US plants.  The residents had brought a class action claiming it was responsible for contaminating local water supplies with PFOA, causing birth defects and other health hazards.

In 2006, a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientific advisory board recommended PFOA be labelled a 'likely carcinogen' (cancer-causing) in humans.  The EPA asked DuPont, and seven other companies that use PFOA in manufacturing processes, to phase out its use. DuPont has agreed to take steps to make sure that by the year 2015, the chemical would not be released into the environment from its manufacturing plants, though it has not agreed to stop using it, or to stop making Teflon. The problem for Dupont is, as it stands now, it cannot make Teflon without this chemical, though it says it is looking for a substitute.  Quoted from an excellent article by Peter Lavelle on the Australian ABC website The Pulse.

It further transpires that DuPont had known for several decades that PFOA is harmful and kept quiet about it!  The EPA did at least fine DuPont for this behaviour (ref: The Washington Post) .

Are Teflon and other PTFE containing non stick pans safe?

The Peter Lavelle article summarises: 
...non-stick fry pans can release toxins. At high temperatures Teflon is known to give off a cocktail of 15 types of toxic particles and gases, including trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and phosgene. These chemicals are known to be poisonous to birds. And in humans they cause headaches, chills, backache, and fever - a condition known as 'Teflon flu'.
DuPont admits this, but it says in humans the condition is reversible, and in any case it only occurs at high temperatures, not during normal cooking use.

Government authorities and DuPont say that Teflon and other PTFE non stick pans and cookware are safe as long as you cook at low to medium heat, do not heat the pan empty, don't allow oils to smoke, etc etc.

I would be particularly cautious about cheap "no name" brands of non stick pans.  I imagine the quality of the coating would be questionable and more easily broken down into toxins, plus there is little accountability from the manufacturer. 

Wikipedia explains:
At 200 °C PTFE is detectable and it evolves several fluorocarbon gases. It begins to deteriorate after the temperature of cookware reaches about 260 °C, and decomposes above 350 °C (662 °F). These degradation by-products can be lethal to birds, and can cause flu-like symptoms in humans.

Meat is usually fried between 200 and 230 °C, and most oils will start to smoke before a temperature of 260 °C is reached - although refined safflower oil and avocado oil have a higher smoke point than 260 °C so you wouldn't know. Empty cookware can also exceed this temperature upon heating.

Safe non stick cookware alternatives

Biome simply supports the precautionary principle - better safe than sorry.  We also aim to question any use of synthetic chemicals and whether there is a safe, more natural alternative.  I also have no idea how you would tell what temperature your non stick pan had reached?

All cookware uses some form of metal and synthetic process to manufacture the pan, unless we're going to cook over an open fire on sticks, or use the sun to cook an egg on a rock!  Unless you can think of other methods...?

Glass is the safest of materials, but it is certainly not non-stick, as proven by hours of scrubbing lasagne of my glass Pyrex dish.

We have chosen the Neoflam non-stick cookware range that is now stocked in both our stores and online.

Neoflam is a cast aluminum cookware coated with Ecolon™ non-stick coating. Ecolon is a ceramic based coating which is mostly made of silicon dioxide (also known as silica or SiO₂), a material most commonly found in nature such as stone and sand. No emissions are released at any temperature and there are no heavy metals such as Cadmium, Lead and Mercury in the coating.

Aside from the great features below, I love cooking with Neoflam!  The fry pan is a joy to use - lightweight and easy to clean.  I've tried other safe non-stick cookware that is much heavier and unweildy.  I love that it is ovenproof also.  A friend who is a Chinese chef was delighted with his Neoflam wok. He said the "fried rice was dancing"!

• Highly durable and scratch resistant - non stick coating lasts longer than conventional non stick
• Oven safe
• Has the benefits of cast iron thick base cookware, but is actually lightweight
• Great value prices compared with other brands marketed as premium options
• Ecolon coated cookware uses less energy and achieves faster cooking times due to better thermal conductivity
• Less C02 emissions than Teflon manufacturing

According to Neoflam, most PTFE coating can only withstand up to 4H pencil testing. PTFE coating releases chemicals at 240°C. On the contrary, Ecolon can withstand 8H hardness testing and will not melt up to 450°C.

Ecolon coated cookware can cook an egg without using any oil. And clean up is a breeze too, both inside and outside.  Ecolon's non-stick coating performance may appear to be slightly less than a PTFE-based non-stick coating. However, Ecolon's advantage comes from its durability, maintaining the same non-stick performance even after repeated use.

See the full range of Neoflam non stick cookware at Biome Eco Stores.

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Water filter bottle - no more excuses!

Confession! I do sometimes still grab water in a disposable bottle because it generally tastes so much better than what comes out of my tap at home or a public fountain. Some places may have better tasting tap water, but Brisbane seems to be heavy on the chlorine (although see the addedum below on LifeStraw and why we shouldn't complain!).

Usually, I do fill up my reusable water bottle from our beautiful Southern Cross Pottery water purifier on the bench at home.  I love the taste of the water that comes out of the purifier compared with the chemical-heady scent of Brisbane's tap water.  But, we have some little munckins in our house that love to empty the purifier and not refill it.  Or, it may be that I'm on-the-go and need a water refill, but my tummy just can't handle another dose of chlorine.

Well now, there is no need for anymore excuses because we have some fantastic water filter bottle choices at Biome.  What about when you're camping and only have muddy creek water, you ask?  Still no excuses...

The Fill2Pure stainless steel water bottle removes 99.99% of contaminants and according to the manufacturer will prevent most water borne illnesses for travellers.  They say you can even fill from a muddy creek and instantly drink safe, clean water.  Fill2Pure elimiates chlorine as well as fluoride, an important feature for many people who live in areas where fluoride is added to the water, such as Brisbane. See the details below of exactly what is removed.

While a Fill2Pure bottle requires one to suck water through the filter with some gusto, the Australian-designed and made (hoorah!) BPA-free 321water filter bottle  filters by a plunger or french press mechanism. This allows the clean water to be easily sipped from the bottle.  The 321water bottle's carbon filter absorbs chlorine, organic compunds and other unpleasant odours, so it is ideal for anyone who simply wants great tasting water on the go.

Fill2Pure also provide a BPA-free plastic version that is much easier to drink from because you can squeeze the bottle to help push water through the filter. This would be suitable for children.


What does the Fill2Pure filter eliminate
Fill2Pure removes up to 99.9% of contaminants including:

• Aesthetics: unpleasant taste, odours, dirt, silt, cloudiness, sediment
• Micro-biological organisms: harmful bacteria, pathogens, Giardia, E-coli, etc.
• Chemicals: Chlorine, flouride, arsenic, detergent, pesticides, DDT, DDD, PCB, PCE, industrial waste, etc
• Dissolved solids: heavy metals - aluminium, asbestos, copper, lead, zinc, mercury, etc.
• Radiologicals: Radon, Radium, Uranium, etc.

The only equivalent in our benchtop ceramic water filter systems is the Fluoride Reduction water purifier that removes 99.75% of fluoride inexpensively and efficiently. Read here for full details on how the fluoride reduction filter works.

LifeStraw
Thank you to one of our Facebook fans for the referral to this awesome product and business. A visit to this website helps put back into perspective that our tap water is nothing to be complained about!   LifeStraw is a personal water filter (like a large straw) that makes it possible to drink from any freshwater creek, lake or puddle and is being used throughout the developing world.  There's also an incredible saving in resources compared with bottled water.

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Shout Dad an Aussie organic beer

While at the Organic Expo in Sydney recently we were very happy to taste some of Australia's fine organic wines and even a beer!

We were particularly excited about the Burragumbilli Certified Organic Lager and thought it would be a great treat for Dad on Father's Day…without the hangover!

A boutique beer brewed in New South Wales, Burragumbilli is growing in popularity and reputation as a quality, clean tasting “green” choice for the thinking drinker. It has no added sugar, no preservatives and no harmful chemical residues.

The beer follows an organic processing chain from farm to malt house to brewery and bottling to achieve the high status Australian Certified Organic (ACO) certification.

Organic malts and hops have no chemical residues to interfere with fermentation producing a clean, unadulterated beer. Organic lager has exceptional clarity without the use of harmful chemical fining agents, and it has a clean, flavourful taste.



Would you like a cocktail with that beer?
If you are drinking a beer that is not certified organic you are likely to be imbibing a chemical cocktail at the same time.  It can include the residues from farming processes, storage and preservative requirements, several of which are carcinogenic, as well as residues of industrial cleaners and chemical additives to the brew such as flavours, colours, and preservatives.

The benefit of organic beverages is not only are they chemical free but they are also either preservative free or produced with low preservatives, which has a proven tendency to be gentler on your system with less headaches the next day.

Burragumbilli barley and hops are grown without industrial fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides or fungicides and therefore are without the common chemical residues of conventionally grown crops. Hops in particular are very susceptible to fungal diseases and conventionally grown crops generally require fungicidal applications. Organic hops must be grown with wider spaced plants and rigorous pruning to improve sunlight penetration and airflow to restrict fungal infections.

Where to buy a Burra 

Check the list of retail outlets for Burragumbilli organic beer here. If your local bottle shop doesn’t already, why not ask them to start stocking Burragumbilli. Plus, it now has the distinction of being the first organic beer offered on Virgin Australia international and some domestic flights.

Organic Wines

The 2009 Temple Bruer Thistle Hill Riesling was awarded the Best Wine of Show & Best White at the Australia / New Zealand Organic Wine Show, whilst the 2007 Temple Bruer Shiraz Malbec Preservative Free took the Best Red & Best Preservative Free trophy.

Temple Bruer is regarded as one of the pioneers in organic viticulture and oenological practices in Australia. David and Barbara Bruer established a small vineyard in the early 1970's on a property situated on the main road between the towns of Strathalbyn and Milang, in the grape growing district of Langhorne Creek in South Australia. David was in charge of Roseworthy College's Oenology Department before becoming a full-time vigneron, while Barbara also taught chemistry at Roseworthy College and Flinders University for ten years.

Today Temple Bruer is Australia's largest certified organic label and its reputation for quality wine is firmly established.

www.organicwine.com.au is an online wine retailer specialising in organic wine, biodynamic wine and preservative free wine.  Organic, biodynamic, and minimal interference practices when employed competently lead to a superior and unique quality product. The individual “personality” of each wine can be fully expressed for us all to savour.

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Women, wildflowers and hope

One of my favourite moments in the Biome store today was sharing with our customers an appreciation of these beautiful and intriguing greeting cards and the women who made them.

Handmade by women whose homes in El Salvador’s highland cloud forest were destroyed by a devastating earthquake and mudslides, these greeting cards represent a woman’s hope for the future.

Look closely as you may not realise that the pattern on these greeting cards is made from intricately placed dried wildflowers and leaves.

In 2001, massive mud slides and a devastating earthquake left many families in the highlands of El Salvador homeless and jobless. With their fields destroyed, many people began traveling long hours to low-paying factory jobs in the capital. A group of enterprising women, however, formed Arte Comasagua, an artisans’ organization that handcrafts stylish designs from native flowers and plants. These women now work locally, caring for their families and saving for their future.

These handmade wildflower cards are available online and at Biome Eco Stores at 2 Latrobe Tce, Paddington and 215 Adelaide Street, Brisbane CBD.


The cards are shared with the world through Hope for Women, a socially-responsible, for-profit organisation that provides retail opportunities for products made exclusively by women so they can take control of their lives and futures.  Learn more from this news story.

  

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Mr Harvey, can't you use your media power for good?

Photo from Greenpeace Australia Pacfic website

There is no doubt that Gerry Harvey is a very influential person in Australia due to the media air time that he commands - whether it be paid advertising, or as we saw when he spoke out against offshore online shopping, free editorial.

He recently gained so much free media time on the TV, radio and in print, trying to make the Government introduce a policy to discourage people from buying overseas.

Why then does
(a) Harvey Norman purchase furniture made overseas for sale in Australia?

(b) Harvey Norman allow furniture made from precious Australian native forest timbers to be sold in his stores?

(c) Mr Harvey not use his incredible media influence to be a true leader and speak out against this practice and urge the Government to establish an Australian labelling policy?

An Australian non government group Markets for Change investigation has revealed (excerpt taken from noharveyno.net):
                   The journey of many of Harvey Norman’s Australian native forest wood products starts in the forests of Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. These forests are logged, shipped overseas to China, made into furniture and then shipped back to Australia to be sold back to us in the showrooms of Harvey Norman around the country.
Harvey Norman has no publicly available procurement policy that ensures the piece of furniture you buy has not come from an Australian native forest.

Australia does need a labelling policy that empowers the consumer to make an informed choice.  The labelling must identify the species from which products are made, whether the trees have been harvested from certified plantations or native forests, and the country in which the products are manufactured.

Take action

Here you can find an excellent resource with a list of the retailers and timbers to avoid.
Who's selling our native forests?

See the full report at the Markets for Change website

Sign the GetUp! petition here

Take the Ethical Paper pledge here

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BPA Free news

Pictured here: LifeFactory glass bottles with silicone covers

As reported on Channel 10 news tonight, 5 July 2011

Channel Ten news tonight aired an informative story on the dangers of BPA and how to avoid BPA.   Read more about our Biome store and the choices featured in the Channel 10 news story.  Founder of Biome Eco Stores and environmentalist Tracey Bailey, spoke in the news piece.  Link to the Channel Ten story.
We have all heard about BPA in the media lately and know that this dangerous compound is found in some plastic containers and drink bottles.  Make a difference in your and your family's health by choosing the safest water bottles and drinking containers available on the market today.

At Biome Eco Stores we have only ever offered safe, non-toxic choices including BPA free, PVC free and also free from lead and phthalates.

This post contains some thoroughly researched, credible sources that we have found on BPA.

The quick summary?  Good old-fashioned glass is the safest choice for any form of drinking vessel, drink bottle, storage container or cooking vessel.  This may not seem the most practical choice, but Lifefactory glass bottles are made from toughened glass and come with a silicone cover to help protect them from breakage.
What is BPA?


Bisphenol A (BPA) is a plastic and resin ingredient used to line metal food and drink cans and to make hard and clear polycarbonate plastics.  Here is a summary of the Environmental Working Group study in 2007 which found BPA in over half of 97 cans of name-brand fruit, vegetables, soda, and other commonly eaten canned goods.

The use of BPA is widespread, as is its permeation into the environment around us including drinking water and human breast milk.  BPA can leach into food from the protective internal lining of canned foods and from consumer products such as baby bottles and water bottles, polycarbonate tableware and food storage containers.  The degree to which BPA leaches from polycarbonate bottles into liquid may depend more on the temperature of the liquid or bottle, than the age of the container.  (Source: National Toxicology Program).

This Z recommends article explains the great advances made away from unsafe polycarbonate bottles that contained high levels of BPA, but calls for putting BPA-free into perspective.  Canada was the first country to ban BPA from baby products, followed by several US States.  It is still allowed to be used in Australia.

How do you limit exposure to BPA?

• Avoid polycarbonate #7 and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) #3 plastics, especially for children’s food or containers used for heating.  Plastics with the recycling labels #1, #2 and #4 on the bottom are safer choices and do not contain BPA.  Some #7 plastics are now free from BPA, so look for the packaging that also clearly states BPA free.
• Do not heat or microwave food in any type of plastic container – use glass or ceramic instead. Heating plastics to high temperatures promotes the leaching of chemicals.
• Reduce your use of canned foods – canned pasta and soups contain the highest levels of BPA
• Use glass baby bottles and glass bottles for drink bottles.
• Use high quality reusable bottles from trusted brands that publish results of quality control and testing.

Which water bottles and containers are safest to use?

In most cases, the old rule “you get what you pay for” is a good starting point.  There are many cheap metal water bottles in stores to meet the consumer demand for moving away from plastics.  We recommend only choosing an established drink bottle brand that you know and trust, that openly publishes independent test results, and that can be held accountable should there be a problem.

Metal bottles can still leach toxins, whether an aluminium bottle with no lining at all or an unsafe lining, or a stainless steel bottle leaching nickel – particularly if there has not been a tightly controlled and monitored approach to the manufacturing.

At the end of the day, you and your family are the ones who drink from the bottles and need to feel comfortable with whichever choice you make.

Biome offers only choices that are the best quality, reputable and free from all harmful things!

Glass water bottles
Lunch boxes
Sandwich wraps
BPA free baby bottles
Stainless steel bottle
Water bottle

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