The Soft Landing Blog

Dara of the Chick in the Kitchen has been on the same quest we have to find BPA free kids cups. This has not been an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, we’re still short on options and will continue to keep in the hunt.

It is really amazing to me how much work it has been to find kids’ cups that are plastic, but not plastic made with bisphenol A (BPA) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). (See “An Inconsistent Mom Goes BPA-Free“)

I did find a set of cups in Target (the small tumblers in this set) that looked like they were probably polypropylene (cloudy, hard plastic, listed as dishwasher-safe), but they weren’t labeled with a recycling number or any material information. Customer service in the Mt. Kisco store was unable to help me. I bought them anyway, thinking I’d try to track down the manufacturing information from home, and that I’d just return them if I couldn’t find it. I called Target’s main customer service number, and they had no additional information. But, surprisingly, the rep offered to give me the name of the manufacturer. Even more shocking, it’s an American company — U.S. Acrylic in Illinois. (I figured I’d be attempting to contact China.)

I put in a call to U.S. Acrylic and got a response only a few hours later. The cups are acrylic, but are BPA- and PVC-free, according to the company. For whatever reason, Target elected not to include a recycling number or material information on the mold the cups were made from.

Dara did a fantastic job of stepping up to the challenge and following the process all the way through until she found an answer. You’re inspiring to us, Dara!

Here are a couple of other options for older kids:

• IKEA Kids Rainbow Cups and Utensils (thanks to Safe Mama for this info)
• Stackable Steady Cup by Steady Co. – these are hard to find in the US, but we did see them at One Step Ahead
• FUNtainer by Thermos
• Nuby Wash or Toss 10oz Cups – they can be found here, and can be used without the sippy lid
• Kid Kanteen 18oz Water Bottle by Klean Kanteen
• Think Sport Stainless Steel 12oz Water Bottle – available at The Soft Landing
• SIGG Kids Water Bottle
• Sip-a-Cups and 12oz Tumblers by Arrow Plastics – we found them at Walmart (look for the #5)
• Wave Small and Large Cups by Packerware – we found these at Walmart too (look for the #5)
• Many of the plastic souvenir cups you get from restaurants (such as the Rainforest Cafe) are made from polypropylene (you can see an example at WNA, Inc., a souvenir cup printing company); just remember to check for the #5 recycling symbol

Filed under: Kids Cups, Dishes and Utensils