6/06/2008

Don't Throw Away Your BPA!


While going through some baby clothes, toys and whatnot in storage, we came across a cache of baby bottles from our first child. I never realized that we had so many, but since she was in daycare from an early age, we had to have quite a few. Apparently 17 was our magic number. Of course, we now know that these contain BPA, are not recyclable, and will not be using them. What to do? Mrs. NtJS got a tip from the DiaperSwappers forums (so much more than just diapers!) on a great solution.

Here's the hot tip: Despite not being recalled, you can return some BPA products for full purchase price! Find out what and where after the jump.

Babies R' Us is taking them back - kinda. There really isn't anything official on this yet, and we do not expect there to be short of BPA being declared toxic in the US and/or a full blown recall in the US.

  • Call your local store and speak with a manager about this. We specifically asked about the Playtex VentAire bottles since that is what we had.
  • Find out if they will take them back because of the BPA and how they will handle it. Keep in mind, they are not required to do this in any way.
  • If they say yes, then note who you spoke to and when. Then gather up your bottles and do this before they change their minds!
  • If no, then find out why and/or try another store. Some will do it and some will not, but stores all over the country have done this.
Mrs. NtJS did this successfully yesterday. She came out with $67! It was not all smooth sailing though. The cashier that she spoke to completely resisted (and looked at her like she was nuts) until they got a manager involved and determined who had agreed to it. Once that was sorted, they handled it as if she was returning them unused, in the packaging and with a receipt - none of which was the case. They sorted the bottles into sets (the way they would have been purchased) and retrieved new ones from stock to get the appropriate bar codes. They did not give her cash, but rather store credit on a gift card. She wasn't expecting cash, but this will do.

She was however unsuccessful with returning a couple of other bottles from a neighbor. They were only sold as a 3-pack, and she only had two. So no dice. The ones that were returned were taped together into the sets. It is unclear what Babies R Us is doing with them - sending them back to the manufacturer, waiting for a recall, reselling them? These are still on the shelf for sale as they have not been recalled or discontinued -yet. Kudos to Babies R Us for doing the right thing!

Let us know haw you do!




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