SAVE HANDMADE

I cannot imagine a world with only mass produced (mostly Chinese) toys and goods for my children.  No more hand crocheted angel blankets, wool baby booties, wooden trucks and trains - just cheap mass produced junk.  Well apparently our US Congress thinks this will keep our children safe.  Ridiculous!!  Please check out Cool Mom Picks for the exact ramifications of this new law as well as how to contact your congressman.  Geez, Congress, in this bad economy lets just put a few more honest hardworking folks out of business so we can prop up big business at the expense of American children.

Cool Mom Picks wrote:

We're all for strengthening the safety standards of mass-produced toys, clothes, and accessories made in China, and banning toxins like phthalates and lead. But this year, congress passed the ill-conceived Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act, a law which goes into effect in two months and will absolutely decimate the small toy manufacturers, independent artisans, and crafters who have already earned the public trust. The very same ones that we often feature here and in our yearly special edition gift guides.

With this act going into effect February 10 2009 so many people we love will be affected: Moms who sew beautiful handmade waldorf dolls out of home, artists who have spent decades hand-carving trucks and cars out of natural woods, that guy at the craft show who sold you the cute handmade puzzle--even larger US companies who employ local workers and have not once had any sort of safety issue will no longer be able to sell their goods. Not without investing tens of thousands of dollars into third-party testing and labeling, just to prove that toys that never had a single toxic chemical in them still don't have a single toxic chemical in them.