Help save handmade toys in the USA – sign the online petition!
December 10, 2008 by Jennifer
Here at Tree Hugging Family, I show green toy choices (obviously) that are safe and fun for kids, while being an alternative to plastic, conventional, and otherwise less eco-friendly toys. However, if the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has their way, this is going to be very hard for me to do anymore.
New, ill-defined law decisions are putting many small toy-making companies at risk. That means small toy-makers from places we love like Etsy will have to shut down operations. This means green toy companies we adore like Selecta will be ceasing U.S. distribution due to new testing requirements. This means fewer green toy options for children and parents.
Facts about what’s happening:
Because of previous negative toys issues (think lead in toys), the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was passed this last summer. At first glance these guidelines look like they’re meant to help kids. These new guidelines insure banning on lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and requires certification for all toys. It also means that toy makers must permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.
We all want safe toys; that’s true. No one wants their child playing with icky lead and toys that could harm. That said, the CPSIA is overkill. Instead of placing regulations on toys from places who have traditionally had issue with lead and other safety issues, the CPSIA is being applied to ALL toy-makers even those in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, who already have stellar safety regulations in place.
What this means to toy-makers:
Many small American, Canadian, and European toy-makers will most likely be driven out of business. The cost to run individual and mandatory rigorous testing is unreachable to most small company toy-makers.
According to the Handmade Toy Alliance the following negative issues are connected to the CPSIA:
- A toymaker, for example, who makes wooden cars in his garage in Maine to supplement his income cannot afford the $4,000 fee per toy that testing labs are charging to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
- A work at home mom in Minnesota who makes dolls to sell at craft fairs must choose either to violate the law or cease operations.
- A small toy retailer in Vermont who imports wooden toys from Europe, which has long had stringent toy safety standards, must now pay for testing on every toy they import.
- And even the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.
Why this sucks:
Here at THF, I try to show safe toys. I don’t want your children playing with unsafe toys any more than you do. I like to share toy ideas from small companies as well as large. I share handmade toys from Etsy. Being a huge green advocate, I obviously share sustainable toy ideas. These new regulations have already affected one green toy company to the point of shutting down operations in the US. Will more follow? Most likely, if this poorly defined law is set in stone.
Parents need to have toy choices. If we lose green toy company toys, we’ll be left with very few green toy choices; basically what large conventional toy companies see fit to offer us. And for those of us who support buying handmade items, we’re out of luck. This will affect crafters who make handmade toys, (think Etsy) and leave parents with conventional toy options only.
So far as affecting families, consider the families who depend on a mom or dad’s income from a place like Etsy or other small green toy distributors.
You can help speak up about this CPSP decision. You can make it known that we as parents deserve choices when it comes to toys for our kids. First of all you can sign the online petition to Save Handmade Toys in the USA from the CPSIA. You can also write to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA to save handmade toys. Use the Handmade Toy Alliance sample letter or write your own. You can find your Congress Person here and Senator here.
Do we want only plastic, factory made toy choices? Or do we want something more, something better, something a little more green for this generation of kids? If you want more for your kids than conventional toy options, please sign the online petition, and forward this information to everyone you know asap.
Learn more:
I finally saw one of your Twitter updates!
This does stink.
umm, that Save the Handmade toys petition seems to require a donation. It asks you to choose the amount and there’s only a “next” button. Seems to be no way around it. Am I overlooking that?
Peggy, you don’t have to make a donation, that’s just an option. If you signed it, you signed it. All online petitions, or most anyhow, have donation offers, but you can also just sign to show support. You should get a confirm email that says you signed.
PS just don’t push next – once you sign, you’re done.
Oh. Ok. I haven’t gotten an email yet, but maybe it takes a bit.
Thanks.
Oops. I did get an email. I forgot I used the gmail address. : )
i wanted to make sure people also realize it’s not just toys that will be affected by this but all handmade items created for children like clothing, hair products, shoes etc.
This affects not only toys but any handmade product that comes in contact with children. For example: burp cloths, bibs, changing pads, hairbows, etc
@Brittany – I know, I heard about that. It’s such a lame act that will affect so many people.