Stop to consider the plastics that touch your family’s mouths and food every day — plastic bottles with water, soda, juices, sippy cups, baby bottles, plastic dinnerware, serving bowls, cereal bowls, drinking cups, coffee mugs, the containers we buy food in at the store. If those items all have a measure of BPA and the very low doses are what may lead to problems with endocrine system function, we all have a lot to consider in how we, and manufacturers, handle our food and beverages. Many companies are getting on board and making responsible decisions even before any legislation might be passed to force the issue. Others are pioneering new product technology and offering great alternatives for us. One such company is Kid Basix.

We reviewed the green Kid Basix Sippy 2, complete with straw adapter for older kids.

I was pleased to have the opportunity, recently, to test the Safe Sippy 2 and The Safe Sporter, from Kid Basix, with my own family.  The company also carries the Original Safe Sippy and The Starter, a baby bottle.  All these products are BPA and phthalate free.

Our grandson tested the Sippy 2 for us. He's checking out the spout, since it's different from his other cups.

The body of the Safe Sippy 2 is made from light-weight, food-grade, 304 stainless steel, which means it’s non-leaching and toxin-free.  The shape of the spout is designed to prevent physical and speech difficulties as tiny mouths and teeth develop.  The Safe Sippy 2 has a tapered waist with ribs at the top of the thermo-plastic rubber sleeve, to make it easy to grip when your “big boy or girl” decides they are too grown up for the removable handles which are included.  The thermo-plastic rubber sleeve helps to insulate the beverage inside, protect the cup from dings and dents if dropped and to protect little fingers from feeling the cold temperature of their drink conducted through the stainless steel.    The Safe Sippy 2 also includes a dust cap to keep the spout clean,  a travel plug to prevent leaks, a sippy valve and a straw adapter.  Quite frankly, the design is ingenious!

He is very possessive of this cup whenever he visits. I love that it is safe and easy for him to use and can be cleaned up lickety split in the dishwasher. The dust cover is great for keeping the spout clean when you have to toss the cup into the diaper bag.

Our grandson really likes this cup.  We started out with the straw adapter in place, but at not quite 2, he is still used to tipping his cup up to drink, which resulted in some dribbling, so later we added on the handles and switched to the sippy valve.  It was a hit!  Eventually he will graduate back to the straw adapter and I anticipate getting years of use from this sturdy little cup.  He is very upset if I offer the Sippy 2 to any of the other grandkids.  “Mine” is well established in his almost two-year-old vocabulary. 

This is the wonderful Sporter that I tested for this review.

I also received and tested The Safe Sporter, in marigold.  It was a great help to me on my mission trip to Kansas City, last week.  I spent four, very warm days being able to help out in a soup kitchen down there.  I would leave The Sporter in the the reach-in cooler and refresh myself with a cool drink, whenever I had a break.  The construction is very similar to the Sippy 2, with a stainless steel body, wrapped in the same thermo-plastic rubber sleeve to protect fingers from the cold and give a good gripping surface.  It also has a hinged mud cap that easily flips back out of the way when drinking and an easy-pull sports spout.  The one difference I noticed was that with a plastic bottle you can squeeze it to dispense the liquid.  Since this bottle is stainless steel, you definitely need to suck the liquid from the spout, which isn’t necessarily an issue, just something to get used to.  I got so busy during the week that I didn’t get a picture of myself using The Safe Sporter and as it turns out, I left it behind with someone who is currently without a home and has a greater need than I do for its sturdy construction and generous 16 oz. capacity.  I was blessed to be able to share it with them.

Kid Basix is generously sponsoring a giveaway of one Kid Basix product of your choice for a lucky Busy-at-Home reader.  If you can’t wait and you want to add some of these high-quality, BPA beverage containers to your kitchen, right away, I encourage you to visit their website and place an order.

Giveaway Rules:

You must be 18 or older and a US resident to enter.  Mandatory entry must be completed before any optional entries will be counted.  Winner will be selected in a random drawing using random.org.  Deadline for entry is midnight (CST), Sunday, July 3, 2011.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Kid Basix and in a comment below, tell me which style and color of Kid Basix cup you would choose if you are the giveaway winner.

Optional Additional Entries:

1. Like Kid Basix on Facebook and leave a comment to let me know you’ve done it.
2. Follow Kid Basix on Twitter and leave a comment with your Twitter handle to let me know you did.
3. Follow Busy-at-Home on Twitter.  Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done it.
4. Like Busy-at-Home on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done it.
5. Follow Busy-at-Home on Google Friends Connect.   Or click the Join Button in the right-hand side bar.  Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done it.
   
6. Subscribe to the Busy-at-Home Newsletter with this link or in the right-hand sidebar.  You will receive an email confirmation with a link that must be clicked to confirm your subscription.  Once you click the email link to confirm your subscription, leave me a comment to let me know you’ve done it.
7. Tweet this giveaway (maximum of 1x per day, please).  Win a colorful, durable and BPA-free sippy cup or sport bottle  from @ Kid Basix  and @busyathome  http://ow.ly/5odh3 Leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.
8. Post this giveaway on your Facebook page.  You’re careful about what your kids are drinking.  What are you serving them in?  Win a colorful, durable and BPA-free sippy cup or sport bottle  from @ Kid Basix  and @busyathome http://ow.ly/5odh3 Leave a comment below with a link to your post.

Warnings about BPA (Bisphenol A) in plastics have been ringing louder and louder in the past year or so.  Certainly the scientific community has championed the alerts for nearly 25 years, but it is more recent that the truth about endocrine disruptors in plastics has been known or at least understood by the general public, and parents, in particular.  Having two children who are affected dramatically by endocrine system issues has piqued my interest and concern over this subject.  With the flood of plastics that bombard us in our daily lives, it is overwhelming and frightening to think that we may have unknowingly created a situation that will be difficult to remedy.  When something is hard, however, it’s not the time to bury our heads in the sand.  Even the smallest steps forward are still forward, and cumulatively, over time, can help to make improvements for both health and environment.   Parents around the globe have discarded BPA plastic baby bottles, teethers and drinking bottles, but there are many places we haven’t been made aware that BPA is still lurking in our everyday lives.  I am not a scientist and have no medical training, so I urge you to do some research on your own.  You can always find pro and con articles on any topic and I encourage you to read both, then consider the source.   This is not a topic that affects only a few people.  The reality is that every person is likely affected, in some measure, by daily exposure to these plastics.  For detailed information on the chemical BPA, its use in plastics and its effects on the human body, there are many articles I would encourage you to consider.  Here are just a few to get you started.

1. National Geographic Magazine
2. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
3. California Lyme Disease Association

I received a Kid Basix Safe Sporter and Kid Basix Sippy Cup 2,  in order to test them and conduct this review.  No monetary compensation was received and a positive review was not required.  As always, the views and opinions expressed are wholly my own.