Imagine this: Your whole family has gone through a weird health phase. The doctor has informed you that it’s because of certain toxins that you have inhaled or taken into your body. What do you do now? You know your whole lifestyle is surrounded by home food delivery in plastic containers. What do you do to cut down on this toxic plastic? Is silicone the answer?
You heard of silicone, but ask what is silicone made of? “Well, it’s an element called silica that is found in sand. You wonder, is it durable? How good is it when heated and frozen? Can you cook with it? If all answers are positive. Why wouldn’t it be a better alternative to plastic? Well, let’s explore that together.
It’s a little embarrassing, but I must let you know that I am going thru a change myself. As they say, the struggle is real.
I was and probably still am a recovering plastic junkie which means that I roamed the dollars stores for the next exciting new plastic item. I receive tons of Rubbermaid containers sets for Christmas and mother’s Day. My cabinets were stockpiled with take-home containers for the kids.
I know by saying that gives me no authority on being eco-friendly. But my finding out, what I know now, gives me a strong reason and conviction to stop using toxic plastic. This has also made me more determined to let others know. When something threatens your home and your family, you start looking for the best way out, you start looking for alternatives.
Plastic was invented in 1907. And since its invention, it has proven to be a versatile material and has become very widely used. Why? Because it’s also very durable, flexible, washable, and can take on many shapes and sizes.
But recently, I have found out an underlining truth about plastic. And I found it out the hard way. Our doctor told us that it was in our body and that it was harmful to my family’s health and to the environment. After that, I read many studies about BPA, BPS, phthalates, and oil polymers, just to name a few. And found out that those toxic chemicals were in almost everything.
The verdict did not look good. With my family‘s health crisis and the information I gathered, I decided to take a serious look at alternatives to plastic. And one plastic alternative that really got my attention was silicone. It seemed almost like plastic, but, without the toxic chemical effects.
Right, what is silicone? Well, it is made from sand, and every kind of sand contains silica. This form of silicone is said to be the second-largest element in the earth. So, that means that it’s readily available. And that there can be many uses for silicone.
However, the silicone that I am referring to is a man-made polymer created from silicon (without the “e”), oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen elements. This naturally gives silicone many properties like plastic, and others like jelling, liquifying, hardening, softening and being almost rubber-like.
Plastics are most often made from chemicals and crude oil… (The same stuff you put in your cars.)
When crude oil is extracted from the Earth it is transformed into plastic by altering the oil’s carbon compounds. An environmental study states” that when plastics are created, manufacturers will often include “additives” to enhance their performance. These additives include fillers to make the plastics stronger, thermal stabilizers to allow them to be heated, plasticizers for pliability, UV stabilizers to keep them from degrading in sunlight, fire retardants, colorants, and more. In short, all plastics are a veritable soup of chemicals, and all can contain many toxins, depending on the given manufacturers’ secret plastic “formula”
Silicone is made differently, from plastics. To turn silica into silicone a more humane process is performed. The silica is heated with carbon in an industrial furnace to extract the silicon, then it is passed through hydrocarbons to create a new polymer with an inorganic silicon-oxygen backbone and carbon-based side groups. This is what we call silicone.
Even though Silicone is not biodegradable, it is better than plastic in terms of resource extraction. And what about those toxic chemicals in plastic?
Remember the additives and toxic recipes of the plastic manufacturers mentioned above?
Did you know, that, in 1979, the US Food and Drug Administration determined that silicon dioxide, the raw material that goes into silicone products, was safe for food-grade applications.
There were no toxic chemicals found in the raw materials of silicone. Even Health Canada stated that “There are no known health hazards associated with the use of silicone cookware and that Silicone rubber does not react with food or beverages, or produce any hazardous fumes.
So, now that you have the scientific approach to silicone. Let’s find the benefits to you and how can you use them?
The benefits of changing to Silicone from plastics are many. One major win is that hormone-disrupting chemicals found in plastics like phthalates, BPA, and BPS are not found in silicone.
Durability- A silicone product will last much longer before it is not usable. So you can feel confident that the silicone product will not break down and leach chemicals into your food.
Recyclability -As you know, some plastics and parts of plastic are recyclable, but all of the silicone is recyclable.
Terracycle- When properly recycled, silicone can be downcycled into an oil that can be used as an industrial lubricant, playground mulch, or other lesser products. One silicone brand, Stasher, partners with Terracycle to ensure their bags are properly recycled.
Heat or Freeze–Silicone can take it. It won’t melt under normal cooking situations, even up to 400 degrees. In the dishwasher, it can take extreme temperatures and won’t melt. And it will not crack when used as freezer storage bags either.
So, the verdict is that Silicone is more resistant to heat and that it doesn’t contain harmful toxins like plastic, so it’s a good choice to use.
One example is microwaveable IKLM storage bags. They have been tried and tested for freezing, cooking, prepping, and microwaving and are also reasonably priced.
Instead of using plastic lids on your glass Corning ware and metal containers you can now have a choice of silicone stretch lids that can do the job of many lids and they are much safer and longer-lasting. So, I feel that from all of the growing evidence that silicone may very well be the next alternative to plastic.
I know that it’s not totally realistic to ask people to give up plastics cold turkey. But I also know that if we all become more mindful of the wastefulness of single-use toxic plastic and its dangers, we could make a great and everlasting change.
One way to change is to buy and use less plastic. But an even better change is to switch to silicone and other reusable eco-friendly products. We will talk about these other eco-friendly products in more detail later in my posts.
The company I Know Lucky Moon is embracing the idea of Purging toxic Plastics. This mindful act has turned into life long commitment to finding and giving back more good stuff to our planet.
They state that “We are committed to brands that are conscious of the environment and that also give back to the community. And we are willing to take the road less traveled on products that are environmentally friendly, reusable, and that also adds a spark to our daily lives. Our commitment to you is to always recommend the best products and to use a trusted supplier for our own products.”
They deliberately select products that are eco-friendly, unique and also add that spark. They also package their products with stories and visual messages to seal that connection with you, their customer.
Please feel free to share your story with us as we continue our journey to being more mindful in our fight against wastefulness.
RGBConnects 113021
I Know Lucky Moon is a collaboration of two working mothers who recognize the value of creating meaningful interactions not only with people but also with the products we consume.
6 Responses
Awesome!!!!!!
Thank you for your affirmation. We really are motivated by the communities’ comments.
Durability with the ability to be biodegradable is good for the earth.
Thank you Gwen, That’s encouraging. We will keep trying to do the best we can for our planet and our followers.
I am happy to know there is an amazing product IKLM Silicone bags, and after trying it I know that I made the right decision.
Thanks for the information very informative.
Thank you so much, Josephine, we strive to give the best information about the product, so that it takes the guesswork out of using them.