Act now to save handmade toys!

Liz and Kristen of Cool Mom Picks are spreading the word about the soon-to-go-into-effect Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act, and the disastrous effect it will have on small toymakers, artisans and crafters:

With this act going into effect February 10 2009 so many people we love will be affected: 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 goods. 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.

Take five minutes and act now -- it only takes a moment to write a letter or to find out more. Cool Mom Picks has created a Save Handmade resource page that has all the info you need, including a link to a sample letter to send to your representative.

Also, grab the Save Handmade badge and place it on your site linking back to http://www.coolmompicks/savehandmade. Let everyone know!

Comments

[shirky]

I am forced to point out that there is no such thing as an object that "doesn't have a single chemical in it." I mean, unless someone's claiming to be selling dark matter or something.

[STL Mom]

This Christmas, I really tried to find some toys that were made my individuals and small businesses here in the U.S. I'm horrified by the idea that I could no longer buy toys from Etsy.com or at local craft fairs! I've emailed my Senator and Member of Congress.

[Liz]

Thank you so much for this Asha.

And even to you Shirky for the science geek-y correction. No doubt someone will try to sell some dark matter on ebay at some point in the near future.

[Megan@SortaCrunchy]

THANK YOU for sharing this. I posted about it earlier this week and I am so glad some of the big time bloggers are sharing it, too. The clock is ticking!

[Ryan]

Another place to fight it, on prez-elect Obama's change.org site:

https://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

[Rachel]

I've been following this with interest for several weeks and I'm glad to see it's getting attention. As a frequent Etsy and Hyena Cart shopper this is very sad to read. The majority of my son's toys are handmade.