One way to make the holidays a little greener is to use silicone baking gear. Paper muffin cups waste resources, while going sans any baking cup leaves kind of a mess, and your baked goods will stick to the pan.

Silicone has been prooven safe, and it’s reusable. Plus I personally use them, and nothing sticks to them. You will want to wait a little to remove muffins from silicone baking cups though – if you try when the muffins are freshly hot out of the oven, they’ll sometimes stick. Silicone won’t rust, warp, or retain odor from your baking ingredients. It’s also dishwasher, freezer, and microwave safe

Here are some good silicone products to try:

Wilton has a HUGE selection of fun, colorful silicone baking cups. Best for kids are the Silly Feet! Silicone Baking Cups (as seen at top pf post).

Cookware.com has plenty of silicone available. Three good options include:

• Calphalon BT07 – Silicone 16″ x 24″ Large Rolling Mat
• Calphalon BS07 – Silicone Bakeware 11″ x 16″ Baking Mat
• Kaiser Bakeware 681047 – Patisserie 12″ x 16″ Silicone Baking Mat

And just for the kiddos, these fun HEAD CHEFS Kid’s Posable Silicone Kitchen Utensils will get them cooking…