We have been talking in depth lately on the effects of buying AMERICAN made products. Just getting people to open their eyes to were stuff is made is huge! Seriously, I BEG you to start reading labels. Turning items over and checking to see where they are made before you buy them. PLEASE!!! Almost everything is labeled and once you do this a few times you will become an expert on finding these labels quickly. On shoes, look under the tongue. Shirts, look on the tag, if its not there there is usually a small tag on the inside seam. Check there! Toys are usually stamped on the bottom (printed right into the plastic,) so if you don't have the packaging you can still check. You will soon become outraged at where your "stuff" is coming from. Or RATHER were your hard earned money is going!
You may run into obstacles. But I assure you, you can over come these. Example: (oh, I have many of these!!!) Clothes pins. I went into five different stores and not a single clothes pin was made in the good old USA. I will add I didn't run around wasting gas looking for the clothespins, but when I was in a new store would check on these. So I went home a picked up a copy of last years Lehman's catalog and sure enough...Clothespins made in the USA. Eureka, I found it! The same can be said about dish towels, and shoes. If you don't have a Lehman's catalogue I recommend you get one. What a great store. They list on every item they sell weather it was made in America or if it was imported.
Shoes are tuff, but there are a couple brands you can buy in stores near you if you don't want to get online and order some of the neater, spunkier styles from smaller companies. New Balance sneakers, are generally made and packaged in the US. Sass, is another old school American brand. But http://www.americansworking.com/shoes.html looks like it will be my next shoe company...I like the Keno sandal. There all sorts of options from work boots to sneakers, to sandals and babies- adults. Here is a great website to use when you are in a pinch for an AMERICAN made product... http://www.americansworking.com/index.html
The other day Pat came peaking around the corner with a big smile on his face. He told me he got me a present. Then he pulls this giant box from around the corner. " A new vacuum!" Now I was ecstatic for a split second. You see my poor, pathetic old junky plastic (toy looking) vacuum. Was well beyond its last leg in life. If you need to open a window to clear the smoke and smells from a room during and after its vacuuming session, then in my opinion you are in sad need of a new one! Which was my situation exactly. So here is this box with an image of yet another plastic toy looking vacuum. Most women (and men) would have been elated to see a Dyson, in their home. I mean after all, haven't we all seen the commercials? It is the best vacuum in the universe according to that smart looking man on the boob tube. Sheesh!
I don't think Pat got it, when he saw my eye brows curl in and my expression turned to a look of annoyance. But really, did he just not get it? Did he just not get me? How much preaching must one do, God bless his pretty little soul (LOL.)After a long conversation he finally stared getting it, and me! So we marched back to the store and returned it and got me my BELOVED Oreck. It looks like a vacuum my grandma would have owned. For crying out loud it looks like a VACUUM not a toy (I am breathing in a sigh of relief and great pleasure.) Pat is more proud now of that vacuum then I think even I am (if that is possible!)
One last note we spent a nice afternoon walking around the out-let mall the other day. This was really a day of learning for my sweetie. I am not sure which rock he has been living under but apparently he was under the illusion that clothes and shoes were still being made in AMERICA. Well they are, but not in the way he imagined. Store after store he would poke his head in and flip over the tags on shirts, pants, belts, and shoes only to see that NONE of these clothes were made here. But rather Taiwan, China, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh and so on and so on. It was slowly starting to register with him. Just because the stores name is as AMERICAN as apple pie, like Timberland or Nike does NOT mean it was made here.
We finished our little adventure by stopping into a shop called AMERICAN Apparel http://www.americanapparel.net/ were we purchased (out of necessity-not want)one pant, one shirt, several socks, and a pair of undies all made in down town LA just for Thomas. There are no obnoxious characters or designs on these clothes. Just simply made by a company who verifies that their workers are tax paying citizens... in AMERICA! Thomas is so proud of his AMERICAN made clothes, and let me tell you how cute he looks!
If we all make a small change in the way we shop we CAN make a BIG difference! I will start posting my favorite AMERICAN made items on here.
