I'll be honest, I have done my fair share of shopping at BRU - heck, I even had a baby registry there. But that was more out of a sense of ease. I was able to find most of the basics of baby-rearing at BRU, and people who wanted to give gifts from a registry had it easy between the stores and the online option. But I wasn't super-psyched about it. Most mass-produced stuff for babies is garish, frilly, or just outright ugly. And that's fine if you like that kind of thing. M and I do not.
So back to the glorious shopping opportunities. When I was researching cloth diapers, I found a small affordable producer and bought a bunch of her adorable flannel all-in-ones. When I couldn't stomach the price of a sexy Hotsling or Mayawrap - especially without knowing how Fiona would respond to a sling - I went on eBay and found a woman who makes beautiful, simple slings. And Fiona and I loved it. When it came to The Great Bedding Search of 2007, I managed to track down a company that made cute, semi-affordable stuff that was made in the U.S.A. What's not to like about that? And a co-worker makes the most adorable sock monkeys you've ever seen, selling them on Etsy (incidentally, the best site EVER).
OK, so I have a point to all this. The point is early next month on February 10th, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act goes into effect, and this spells very bad news for a huge number of these small home-based businesses. It sounds like a fine idea. After all, who among us doesn't want to strengthen the requirements for testing and ensuring the products our kids wear, play with, and use don't contain toxic chemicals?
The problem with the CPSIA is that it requires every component of every toy, article of clothing, or other item intended for use by children under the age of 12 for lead and phthalates, and this can be a very expensive process. A process only large producers of these types of goods can afford. It's a well-intended law that was clearly created without much forethought. The cost of testing will be too much of a burden on small businesses, and they will be forced out.
Which means no more adorable bibs from craft fairs (like my mother-in-law bought Fiona for Christmas). No more cool jackets, like this one that I am coveting like crazy. No more adorable and affordable cloth diapers. To that I say, "BOOOOOOOOOO!"
What can you do to help? Contact your representatives. Tell them this law is great in theory, but really screws the little guy. Check out CoolMomPicks for some excellent resources and even more information. And thanks for your consideration!
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