Have you ever tried not buying items made in China? It's not impossible. More recently, I've been looking at the tags on everything I buy, and if I have the choice, I'll go for the one made in sometimes very obscure places, sometimes for a little more money. Kids' clothes, for example, are made in some interesting locales: El Salvador, Kenya, Egypt, Nicaragua, Pakistan, to name a few. There's almost no choice when it comes to toys, however, and those lead paint recalls (and of course the tainted milk scare) are still fresh in my mind. Just the other day, I tried to buy a teething toy for Z, and it was a long while before I found something, probably the only toy on the entire shelf not made in China. And you would think that a given company would have all its goods manufactured in the same place so that you'd be safe in always buying from them, but it's not the case. I was looking at blank notecards – I'm trying to improve my handwritten-note skills – and the ones sold by American Greetings were either made in the U.S.A. or China. But they're *American* greetings! I've also been looking at things I've been buying for years, like Colgate toothpaste, which is made in Mexico, or Band-Aids, which are made in Brazil. The girls' bath soap by Gerber is made in Canada, and I recently bought a pair of half socks made in Taiwan. Do you remember when everything used to be made in Taiwan?
07 November 2008
International House of Goods
Have you ever tried not buying items made in China? It's not impossible. More recently, I've been looking at the tags on everything I buy, and if I have the choice, I'll go for the one made in sometimes very obscure places, sometimes for a little more money. Kids' clothes, for example, are made in some interesting locales: El Salvador, Kenya, Egypt, Nicaragua, Pakistan, to name a few. There's almost no choice when it comes to toys, however, and those lead paint recalls (and of course the tainted milk scare) are still fresh in my mind. Just the other day, I tried to buy a teething toy for Z, and it was a long while before I found something, probably the only toy on the entire shelf not made in China. And you would think that a given company would have all its goods manufactured in the same place so that you'd be safe in always buying from them, but it's not the case. I was looking at blank notecards – I'm trying to improve my handwritten-note skills – and the ones sold by American Greetings were either made in the U.S.A. or China. But they're *American* greetings! I've also been looking at things I've been buying for years, like Colgate toothpaste, which is made in Mexico, or Band-Aids, which are made in Brazil. The girls' bath soap by Gerber is made in Canada, and I recently bought a pair of half socks made in Taiwan. Do you remember when everything used to be made in Taiwan?
