And Anchor Hocking was my choice! I’m thrilled with it for several reasons: it’s very reasonably priced, it’s completely free of lead & cadmium, and it’s made in the USA, meeting all my criteria. I already owned several Anchor storage containers, they’re very similar to Pyrex, and they come in every size & shape imaginable. I had been considering Fiestaware which many adore for it’s bright, beautiful colors, and the fact that it’s lead free, but guess what? Those colors contain cadmium 😦 From the research I’ve done, just about anything painted yellow, orange or red will contain cadmium. And, it’s quite expensive. I could not be happier with my new tableware from Anchor. You should shop around a little, I purchased my mugs & bowls from Amazon for a very reasonable price, but the plates were twice as much on Amazon as they were from Bed Bath & Beyond. Some Target’s, Wal-Mart’s & other big box stores even carry the line, although none local to me do.
Anchor Hocking confirmed that all their offerings, even the colored glass, are free of cadmium & lead, which are the main concerns in just about all tableware. I went with the Presence line: I got 6 mugs for $20. The bowls were the most expensive, I should’ve shopped around a bit more, these were $24 for 4 of them, they didn’t qualify for Prime shipping, but I applied for the Amazon credit card which got me a $30 Amazon gift certificate, so they were free basically, and I will never use the credit card 🙂 The plates were 6/$9.99 from Bed Bath & Beyond, and shipping was $7.99, so I got 12 of each size plate (8″ & 10″) shipped for $50 total, coming out to only $2/plate. This comes out to ~$13 for the 4 piece setting, and I think I could’ve found the bowls cheaper had I shopped around more. This is less than 1/2 price compared to Fiestaware, which even on sale is hard to find under $30/ 4 piece setting. We drink from glass Mason jars, although we’ve been drinking from these mugs quite a bit, they’re certainly not just for coffee! Ball & Kerr Mason jars are made in the USA. The pint wide mouths are my favorite, and a case of 12 is less than $10. We keep the smaller sizes around for my 3 year old, it’s all he’s ever drank from other than a stainless steel or glass bottle when we’re on the go. I’m really, really happy with my purchases. I haven’t had them all that long though, so will certainly update as to how everything’s holding up over time. But, I did hear from 1 person who had the mugs for 8 years now & they are in great shape still, which is encouraging!
Amazon links: Cafe Mug (on left): http://amzn.to/1GwtkWI
Rio Coffee Mugs (on right): http://amzn.to/1yMAaDR
8″ Salad plates- 12 pk: http://amzn.to/1xzndar
10″ plate- http://amzn.to/2BAJ4vG
bowls- http://amzn.to/1sZhXAu
2 gal beverage dispenser- http://amzn.to/1wp3U2c
PLEASE read this article about the dangers of using glassware in the oven. Properly cared for it can last a lifetime. http://www.household-management-101.com/glass-bakeware.html
Eco-friendly baby/family products MADE in USA 