Taken from The Baby Gardner blog.
How it’s flown under the radar for so many months, I do not know. But I
am disheartened and concerned more than I can say — not only for small
artisan shops like The Baby Gardner, but especially for the indie
artists themselves who’s livelihood comes from their talent and their
craft. The impact this measure could have on the industry as a whole is
unbearable to imagine.
Sounds pretty somber, I know. I could never describe the
circumstances as succinctly as Liz and Kristen from CoolMomPicks.com,
so here’s the scoop in their own words…
Of
course we’re all for strengthening the safety standards of mass-produced toys made in China, and banning toxins like phthalates
and lead. But this year, the CPSC passed the ill-conceived Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act 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.
They will all go out of business. Period.
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 toys. Not without
investing tens of thousands of dollars into third-party testing and
labeling, just to prove that toys that never had a single chemical in
them still don’t have a single chemical in them.
In other words, handmade toys will now be illegal.
So many of our past reviewees are pleading for your help. Here’s what you can do:
Thanks
mamas. We know we can help make a difference and preserve this
important cottage industry, keep good honest people in business, and
protect the playthings we all love best of all. -Liz and Kristen and
the whole CMP staff
Edited to add: It would seem this act impacts not just toys, but all children’s products
including clothing, hair accessories, shoes - pretty much everything we
feature on CoolMomPicks.com. Please please, if you do one thing today,
shoot off an email or two, will you?
It almost sounds like a terrible hoax, an email chain gone too far.
Wish it was. What I hope it is for all of us, is a call to action. Have
you emailed your congress person today?