August 31st, 2010

Breaking Up with Chinese Made Products

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we spend our money, especially since I stopped working. I will admit that I am a sucker for the deal, most of my stuff is from Target and is replaced all to often when it inevitably wears out. Quality is inconsistent, but every once in a while I score my holy grail – a cheap pair of jeans that lasts for years. We had made an effort to purchase American-made products whenever possible, but that fell by the wayside when Spencer came around. Made in the USA baby-stuff is hard to find or really expensive, but it can be done. We just weren’t doing it.

We did decide that things that went in to Spencer’s mouth (and were meant to) would not be Chinese-made. Bottles were pretty easy; Target had some Made in England bottles.  European and English pacifiers were also pretty easy to find.  But then, we got to sippy cups. We had been given some Chinese-made sippy cups as a gift, so we started with those. And then I went on an internet search that spanned days and finally found the single Made in the USA sippy-cup brand on the internet. And bought three.

I gradually became lax about even looking at where my purchases were from. It was just so easy to buy the cheapest thing at Target or Babies-R-Us. And then I started thinking. I care about where my food comes from, why don’t I care more about the rest of my stuff’s origins. I would love to buy most things American-made. I try and buy local food, maybe I should try and buy local things. I thought about trying to only buy things Made in the USA for a week and that seemed overwhelmingly daunting. So, I pondered. And pondered some more. What if I just didn’t buy anything from China for a month. Nothing. Not even Spencer’s beloved Mum-Mums. This seems doable and so it will be done. This September, the Baby Baby Lemon House will not purchase anything Made in China.

To be clear, this is not a boycott. I am going to do my best to pay attention to where my dollars are going. I will continue to use anything in my house that was Made in China that was previously purchased. If someone gives us a gift and it is chinese-made, we will keep it. To be quite honest, I have not really done that much research as to how hard this will be. And this is a month we need to buy things like a major appliance; I need a complete make-up overhaul; and Spencer needs new shoes, to replace the shoes we bought 3 weeks ago that are already wearing out. Guess where those were made. This should be a fun adventure.  Feel free to leave shopping suggestions in the comments. Or join me on this adventure, fellow shoppers welcome.