Help Save Handmade

From the website Handmade Toy Alliance…
In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public’s trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small part, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and update their molds to include batch labels.
For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers and manufacturers of children’s products, however, the costs of mandatory testing will likely drive them out of business
Taken from one of my favorite handmakers...
What this means for me and my plush is this…as of the next shop update everything I make and sell will be sold + labeled as artwork intended for adults. Now that being said this is still a big deal, this is going to effect anyone making products for children like handmade clothing, handmade cloth diapers, all those amazing one of a kind baby toys on Etsy! What about independent toy shops and the amazing variety of toys? You can check out the website above for more info on how you can get involved to spread the word and let congress know how you feel about this new law.

While I totally support lead testing on toys, the law as written is very clearly flawed. Help save the handmade toys!!

My turn.
This is very important to me as well because I love to buy handmade goodies and hope to make some in the future. If we don't express our concern this could change our little handmade world. Please check it out! You can help too by writing a letter or copying this one

xoxo