If you are here you likely prefer to buy natural, specialty, and/or handmade products for your babies. Unfortunately, the ability to buy toys, infant carriers, and possibly even clothing and cloth diapers from small businesses, work-at-home-moms, or craftspeople will be much more difficult.
The intention of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was to prevent another debacle from some of the biggest toy manufacturers that have outsourced everything to China which helped allow for our children to be given access to lead paint among other things. This is obviously great. No one wants unsafe toys.
The unintended, at least I hope it’s unintended, consequences are that the small manufacturers and makers of handmade toys and infant carriers, among other products for children, here in the U.S., Canada and Europe are going to be affected greatly by the additional costs to get every product tested. Without these small businesses, work-at-home-moms, craftsmen, and the like, all we will be left with are the giant corporations that are the root cause to begin with.
People with stores on etsy that make children’s products will struggle. People that create unique and specialty toys for retail or craft fairs might be out of business. I read an analogy somewhere that if this were food, farmer’s markets would be banned and we would only be left to the giant food conglomerates. I know we wouldn’t want that and I know we don’t want this. I don’t think enough people realize what is happening.
So that brings me to how you can help:
1) Get the word out any way you can!
2) Sign a petition
Links for more information: