A fellow blogger friend, Caroline just posted this article on my sister site, Cambridge Moms Blog. It’s good and important, and I wanted to share it with you…
The 2007 Thomas the Tank Engine lead paint scare was real, and it deserved immediate, thoughtful attention and action. What we actually got from the Bush Administration was a short-sighted, big business-friendly law called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), expected to go into effect by February of 2009.
The law’s name suggests trust–how could you not agree with anything including the words “consumer product safety”?–but it really begs for scrutiny. Under the CPSIA, any product (clothes, toys, books–anything) meant for children under the age of 12 must meet strict lead testing and certification. Now, I understand that products that run the risk of using lead paint or any toxins should be fully monitored and tested, but it strikes me as ludicrous that small businesses (and we have hundreds of them in our area–think of etsy.com) would be run out of business when (a) their products–be it books or cloth diapers or organic t-shirts–run no risk of being toxic and (b) the testing is prohibitively expensive.
A version of the law is absolutely needed, but the current CPSIA must be adapted. Please read below and let your voice be heard!
Further reading:
The CPSIA: Good in Theory, Hurting Small, Favorite Green Businesses in Practice
Handmade Toy Alliance
You Tube Video Response to CPSIA Implementation
How you can help:
1) Email or call the CPSIA:
Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov
The office of the CPSC ombudsman: 888-531-9070
http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx
2) Email or snail mail your representatives:
http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476
3) Call your representatives. For their contact information just enter your zip code:
http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/dbq/officials/
4) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue. The top 3 in each category will be presented to President-elect Obama
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia
5) Sign the petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html
6) Join the etsy community in the virtual chat with CPSIA Small Business Ombudsmen or send a handmade children’s item that will become “hazardous goods” as of 2/9/09 to Bobby Rush, founder of H.R. 4040:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/handmade-childrens-items-unintended-consequences-consumer-pr-3056/
Etsy Thread
