If your family is dedicated to using flexible packaging to protect the environment, you probably have a variety of bags and containers to keep your food, medicine, and cosmetics fresh. One aspect of your eco-friendly packaging that you might not have considered is whether it is child resistant. As you keep making your lifestyle more green, consider these five topics related to child resistant reusable packaging.
What Does Child Resistant Really Mean?
Unlike childproof packaging, child resistant packaging is not impossible for kids to open. Instead, it’s very hard for kids who are younger than five to break or open bags or packages that receive this label. If your little ones try to open a child resistant bag, its safety mechanisms should slow them down for enough time that you can stop them before they access its contents.
How Child Resistant Packaging Is Tested
The Food and Drug Administration oversees use of the term “child resistant” for all food and medicine storage products. To receive this label, mylar bags undergo rigorous child testing. Between 50 to 200 children between ages three and five are given the package in question, and they attempt to open it within five minutes. They also repeat the process after watching a test administrator open the package to mimic how most kids watch their parents open medicine containers.
Child resistant storage containers have proven themselves sufficiently difficult for children under five to open. While you should never assume that your kids can’t open your bags, you can relax a little when you use products with this label.
How Old Are Your Children?
If your kids are older than five, child resistant packaging may not be a deterrent for them. You may need more advanced safety mechanisms if your older children cannot be trusted around your medication or other secured substances. Consider double-bagging your reusable bags or locking them in a secure cupboard to keep your kids safe.
Where Do You Store Your Packages?
Child resistant packaging works best when it’s hard for your kids to access. If you keep your medicine and cosmetics in a high cupboard, it’s unlikely that your kids will get to test the containers’ child resistant rating. On the other hand, if you store everything in a cabinet at your kids’ level, you may have to take your reusable bags from them, particularly if you have toddlers.
Circumstances When You Don’t Want Child Resistant Packaging
While child resistant packaging is great for keeping your kids safe from poisoning from medicine, herbal supplements, and cosmetics, there are some cases when you don’t want to use reusable containers with this label. For example, if you send your kids to school with child resistant lunch bags, they will need help opening their sandwiches. Always keep your mylar containers clearly labeled and make sure that you choose the right ones when your kids are leaving home.
Save the environment and protect your kids’ health by purchasing child resistant reusable packaging for your prescription medications and other dangerous substances.
