Before the holidays I blogged about Adria Vasil's new book, Ecoholic Home. She has some great tips to share. I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you. The following is about safe microwaving (get rid of your plastic, folks!): So we’ve finally woken up to the fact that microwaving plastic baby bottles is plain tantrum-worthy. Not only does estrogen-mimicking bisphenol A (BPA) leach from polycarbonate plastic during regular use, but studies have found that one zap in the microwave can cause as much leaching as 60 to 100 rounds in the dishwasher. Kind of erodes your confidence in the whole “microwave-safe” label, doesn’t it? Especially when you find out that no one regulates the term. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in the fall of 2008, lab-tested 10 plastic food containers for microwave leaching, they found even plastics Nos. 1, 2 and 5 had BPA leaching. These included frozen food trays, microwaveable soup containers and plastic baby food packaging. What? Isn’t BPA only in No. 7 polycarbonate plastic? Guess not. Stay safe and follow these tips: • Never microwave food or drinks in any plastic. Period. • Never microwave or heat plastic wrap. • Don’t put plastics in the dishwasher. Heat (including hot water from dishwashers) boosts leaching from purportedly dishwasher-safe polycarbonate, so who’s to say your dishwasher-safe plastic won’t leach when someone decides to test that too. Excerpted from Ecoholic Home Copyright © 2009 by Adria Vasil. Excerpted by permission of Vintage Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. Now I have some great news. I have FOUR copies of Ecoholic Home to giveaway. Just leave a message here telling me why you need Adria Vasil's help in greenifying your life. Remember, you must be a subscriber to my blog to be able to win. I will randomly select four winners on Monday, January 18.