Please do what you can
Make • January 14th, 2009Over the last few days I have been very pleased to find that those who fight hard are doing everything they can to bring public attention to the devastating consequences brought by an unaffected CPSIA. I have also met artisans who, unlike me, have no choice but to keep their shops open and stay on business. They are also fighting to death and doing all they can to help the cause.
I have been confused by all the calls to action that are pouring online. Which one should I help with?… And the point is, whatever I can do, and whatever YOU can do, is help. So here’s one very easy to do: Please sign this petition. You don’t need to sign up for anything. Just read it, and if it makes sense to you, please sign it.
I’ve read the recent information posted by the Handmade Toy Alliance (authors of the petition above), and find that the proposals they are endorsing, and the letters they are sending, are exactly the kinds of things I’ve been wanting to tell everyone. We’re not asking to be exempt from responsibility. We’re not asking people to let us do whatever we want at home, ignoring children’s safety just because we’re moms with the best of intentions… We’re simply asking legislators to put the burden of testing and certification on the manufacturers of our supplies. Come on! If I can buy a piece of fabric, buttons, and zippers from JoAnn, and silkscreening ink from Speedball, and their products are safe, legal, and certified for public consumption, why should I need to pay thousands of dollars to test every single product I make with such 100% safe materials? It makes no economic sense.
I thought that people my size (or a little bigger), being so tiny and unlikely to get caught, would ignore this new law and keep doing business as usual, and I’m finding that to my surprise, everyone is reacting with exemplary ethics and willingness to abide the law. There are so many out there that have decided to close their shops. And the truth is, they shouldn’t have to… if the law was modified how it should be.
