Best of... purchases.

After lots of reading- and horrific findings... many things around the house and kitchen had to be changed of course. Some were easy and surprisingly cheap to do, others required quite a bit of patience and research in order to be adequately replaced.

• The coffee maker: I was in the middle of reading ''Slow Death by Rubber Duck", when I came upon the chapter named ''Coffee". I closed the book, and it took me a couple weeks to be able to open it again and read on... I knew what was at stake: my coffee maker. Think about it: it's plastic all the way, inside and out. You can't escape it. So we have replaced it with a Melitta porcelain cone and coffee pot. Eventually I found a cloth (hemp) coffee filter, and that is what we have been using since. It tastes delicious, and actually better than the electric maker. Keeper? Absolutely yes!
• Snack containers: switched everything from plastic to stainless steel. At first I was a bit confused about the different sizes, but eventually managed to figure out what our family needs were, and buy enough of the appropriate sizes. They are cheap enough that one can buy a few to have handy and carry around in a purse with your favorite snacks.
• Cookie sheets, muffin pans, cake pans, cooking utensils: those are so cheap to replace that it is really a sin not to. Amazon.com has pretty much any bake ware you'd wish to find in a stainless steel version. Get rid of your Teflon junk and stop poisoning the air that you breath with it! You can also get glass versions of it even at the supermarket. Chuck your Teflon- yes, that does include your scratched up frying pan and all those ''nice'' Calphalon pots... and while you are at it, chuck any plastic or silicone cooking utensils, and buy wood or steel ones! Keeper? Forever, and never have to worry about scratching it again.
• Wipes: rags. Ok, you do have to wash them, but not that often. I wait until I have enough of them to fill the washing machine to wash them (separate from our clothes of course), so as not to waste water/soap/energy and my time. Keeper? Yes.
• Light bulbs: slowly switching them from incandescent to the more efficient ones. Purchased a few LED's, but they are expensive. Keeper? Yes, but it will be great when they finally manage to make some that are a bit cheaper.
• Broom: what better way to keep your arms ''buff''? A great workout for the arms, and it spares me the incredibly loud, deafening noise of the vacuum cleaner. Keeper? I have been using the broom instead of the vacuum for a while now, and I am pretty happy with it. Not to mention that now I don't have to drive all the way to Sears anymore,to buy the ''rare'' and expensive correct bag for the super-loud vacuum cleaner. Hate that thing- and hate changing those bags too.