Johan

How to Avoid Plastic Leaching into Your Food

A growing body of research has uncovered the dangers of the various chemicals in plastic leaching into our food and drink. There is now a range of BPA-free plastic water bottles as a result, but that is the tip of the iceberg when we are surrounded by so much plastic, and the food and takeaway industries seem driven by plastics.

Here are some suggestions as to how you and your family can avoid the toxins in plastics.

1. Skip the Bottled Water

Get a filter for your tap and use a stainless steel water bottle.

2. Buy Your Eggs in Cardboard Boxes

Stay away from the polystyrene.

3. Adopt a Clean Eating Lifestyle

Frozen foods such as TV dinners are usually packaged in plastic trays. Never heat the food in a plastic tray because it can break down into the food. Instead, cook from scratch and use glass food storage containers with covers to make the most of your meals and even create your own TV dinners at home.

4. Skip the Tetra Paks

Tetra Paks are coated with plastic to make them waterproof. Buy milk and juice in glass bottle.

5. Use Concentrated Juices

In the freezer section, you can find frozen juice concentrate for apple, orange and more. Defrost and dilute the contents according to the package instructions and place in a glass bottle or jar. This will cut down on the number of plastic bottles you buy and the amount of gasoline and elbow grease you spend lugging heavy bottles from the store.

6. Invest in a SodaStream

If soda is a priority for your family, consider investing in the SodaStream system with its reusable stainless bottles. Drinks cans are actually coated with plastic, and of course, plastic soda bottles also up your risk of plastic leaching into your drinks. Coca-Cola can actually take the paint off cars, so think what it can do to a plastic bottle or can.

7. Bring Reusable Containers to the Deli Counter

This will skip all the wrapping and plastic bags.

8. Buy Beans in Bulk

Tin cans are lined with plastic as well. Buy dried beans in bulk, boil them up, and use them with all your healthy recipes and soups.

9. Skip the Saran Wrap

Don’t wrap your food in plastic. Try waxed paper instead.

10. Bring Your Glass Containers to the Takeaway

It’s a nice change to get a takeout, but many come in plastic containers or polystyrene. The restaurants also tend to give you a lot of plastic utensils. Ask them to put the meal in your container/s and say no to plastic cutlery.

11. Break Your Coffee Shop Habit

Disposable coffee cups are coated with plastic and the covers are plastic. The heat of the coffee makes it more likely the plastic will leach into your drink.

12. Watch Out with Baby Bottles, Nipples and Sippy Cups

Many of these contain plastic or are coated with plastic. Look for toxin-free baby products.

13. Beware Melamine and Plastic Plates for Children

Melamine is a form of plastic commonly uses for serving plates and bowls, but studies have shown they leach considerably if you add hot soup to them. Use a small, non-breakable glass plate or non-toxic serving ware instead.

14. Use Stainless Steel Lunchboxes

They are more durable and there is no risk of leaching.

Follow these tips to minimize the amount of plastic leaching into your food and drink. The environment will benefit too.

Four Important Considerations When Growing a Service-Based Business

Growing a service-based business has never been easier thanks to the internet. Having said that, the main issue is how to grow it strategically in such a way that you have regular income but are not working 20 hours a day. A steady flow of leads, projects, and recurring or passive income can help you boost your profits and still maintain a work-life balance.

There are several main considerations when it comes to growing your business. Here are four to think about as you formulate your growth strategy.

1. Marketing Your Services

From the moment you start your service-based business, you will have to look for clients and projects, and then set time aside to do them well in order to get happy customers, good reviews, and hopefully repeat customers who will be glad to keep using your service. These are the main ingredients to a successful business.

When you are first starting out, you will have to contact prospective clients, look for work on freelance websites, and more. You will need to learn about what makes a good proposal that you should apply for, and the right clients to work for.

It can be tempting to try for every project when you are first starting out, but some can be more trouble than they are worth. You also hope you will get nice clients who will give you a good review that you can use as a marketing tool, but not everyone is reasonable and difficult clients can really drain your energy.

2. Building Relationships

It will take time, but ideally, you will eventually get to a point where the business comes to you, and you can pick and choose your projects. It’s all about building relationships with clients and making yourself a valuable part of their team.

This means being reliable, hitting all your deadlines, and communicating well. You should be responsive via your communication method of choice, such as email or phone. If you are working on a long project that will take more than a couple of weeks, do your client the courtesy of giving them updates every so often to reassure them that you are on track.

If anything unexpected happens, inform them sooner rather than later. Better to let them know the project might be a day or two late because you are sick with flu, and ask them if it is okay for them to wait, than to just assume.

3. Billing for Your Services

You can charge on a per-project basis, or consider offering a package of service for a fixed fee each month. For example, if you are ghostwriting an eBook for a client, it makes sense to charge a flat fee. If you are helping someone upload content to and maintain their WordPress site, a monthly fee might be a better option. You can then create invoices in PayPal ad get paid easily.

4. Positioning Yourself as a Specialist/Expert

You can make a good deal of money as a generalist, such as a virtual assistant willing to do a range of tasks, but there can be more money and prestige in specializing. For example, you might specialize in creating PowerPoint presentations or managing WordPress accounts.

You can also boost your expertise in your niche or industry by writing eBooks, presenting webinars, and so on. These can all be lead magnets for getting people on your list and willing to try your services.