Like tons of other kids, Miss P started “school” a couple of weeks ago (or rather something that looks alot like school). I was a virgin, so when I got the list of things she needed to have it was like being a kid again and getting excited not about school per se but about the accouterments that signal school is coming. I used to love all that stuff way more than the idea of school. So now I get to relive that dorky excitement through my daughter. But in spite of my desire to rush out and get everything at the cutest little shops in town, I knew enough to know that if I could just wait for it to arrive, there were some great, non-toxic options on the Internet that, frankly, the brick and mortar’s just don’t really carry yet. At least not all of it. And for her lunchbox I really wanted stainless steel. I know they make plastic ones now with no pvc’s or phthalates, but the truth is that’s just not good enough for me…or really for her, I should say. If I’ve switched all our “tupperware” to Pyrex because I don’t want our food sitting in plastic, then she’s not going to eat food that’s been sitting in it either. And the point is that these days I can make that kind of a seamless decision.
So we chose the Planet Box above here. Love it. Has more than enough room for food (I can barely find things to fill it with for now), nothing leaks (i.e. wet fruit), there’s multiple separate compartments (unlike the Lunch Bots) and it’s easy to clean. The carrying bags have pouches for her sippy cups, and while I dig the Planet Box itself, I’m planning to have her name monogrammed where the logo on the carrying bag is now. (Sorry guys, if anyone asks I’ll tell them what it is, but I’m a mom who doesn’t like to sacrifice style.) No, I didn’t get to run out and play with all the different lunch boxes like I wanted to, but there are alot of things you do as a grownup that you may not want to do but which you know you should do. That part is what separates us from the kids. But thankfully now we both get to shop for school supplies.
Tags: Lunch Bots, non-toxic lunchboxes, Planet Box
by:LC
Before Miss P was born I was certain we would not be handing her our cell phones to keep her busy or quiet; we were smart people who would figure out a way to keep her happy just like thousands of generations had done before us with their children. Well, turns out it didn’t quite work that way. One day she realizes what the phone is, grabs for it, and a few times you may deny her the phone and feel good about yourself. But one day – one day – the baby will be in the middle of a fit, you won’t be on your A-game, and the phone will be your last resort to pacify her. And that.will.be.it. From then on you tell yourself you only use it in emergencies when soothing is necessary for everyone. But, let’s be honest, the bar for that emergency keeps getting lower and lower.
So you accept electronics as part of their lives, but it doesn’t mean I’m brain dead either. I’m aware that cell phones emit radiation and that beyond that fact, their skulls are softer and more susceptible than our adult ones are. That when we think it’s cute that they’re holding the cell phone to their ear and pretending to have a conversation (I’m very easily entertained and this can make me smile in even the most dire circumstances), that the truth is that they are holding a device to their heads that is not inert. Far from it.
Everyone now knows that cell phones emit radiation, the question people focus on is how much and at what cost? I feel like that misses the point a bit. A cell phone is one of those things that you are continually exposed to, so even low levels of radiation will accumulate over time, especially when aimed at the exact same part of the body twenty times a day, day after day. They call the amount of radiation that your body absorbs while the phone is sending a signal to the network the “specific absorption rate” (SAR). And not surprisingly, the data on the amount of SAR your phone emits can be hard to obtain. Not impossible, but difficult…on purpose. Recently, the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, passed the country’s first ordinance requiring cell phone to have labels on them detailing the SAR at the point of purchase, and the CTIA (the wireless industry’s lobbying group) has not only threatened to move all of their scheduled conference in the city, but is now suing the city of SF claiming the law is unconstitutional:
“The problem with the San Francisco ordinance is not the disclosure of wireless phone SAR values–that information is already publicly available,” says CTIA Vice President of Public Affairs John Walls in a statement. “CTIA’s objection is that displaying a phone’s SAR value at the point-of-sale suggests to the consumer that there is a meaningful safety distinction between FCC-compliant devices with different SAR levels.”
Someone’s awfully touchy, no? And truthfully, A): where have you ever seen SAR information, or thought to look it up where it wouldn’t take a whole day to find, and B): basically they’re upset that when the information is easily available, the consumer will judge for themselves. Whatever happens with that case and in that particular city, I think this is an issue that we all need to be thinking about. Our kids are growing up playing with our iPhones from infancy, using mom and dad’s old cell phones as toys. Heck, parents are even buying their kids $10 phones specifically as toys. The non-profit Environmental Working Group went through all the data and compiled an easy to read list on over 1,000 different cell phone models and their SAR levels. If you’re an iPhone user like me you’re bummed because your phone is not in the top ten best (it’s not in the top ten worst either, although Blackberry users should be concerned since some of their models are). I love my phone, what do I do? I’m aware of the risks to both her and I, and it steels my resolve when she’s crying for it, to find something else to give her.
We’re parents, we’re tired, we give in. But while my brain still works, I’m going to try and use it.
Tags: cell phone radiation, EWG cell phone list, SAR levels
by:LC
