CSPIA Blog In Day - a Day Late

Well, I missed blogging about this yesterday...but, Jenny at Allsorts has summed it much more succinctly than I could. I've included excerpts from her blog, and encourage you to follow the links back to her blog and read the rest.

Knowledge is power...but in this case, knowledge in silence wields none. If you're as worried as I am, please speak up!






CPSIA Blog-in day

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When Congress passed the CPSIA
(the Consumer Product Safety Inspection Act) in August 2008, they were intending
to protect companies from selling harmful products. All products intended for
children under 12 years old must go through thorough and stringent testing. The
CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in children’s products, mandates third party
testing and certification, and requires manufacturers of all goods for children
under the age of 12 to permanently label each item with a date and batch
number.

Most people know someone who will be affected because most people know
people who have children, will buy something for a child within their lifetime,
or have children themselves. Most small businesses and crafters who sell
children’s products care about this. They will be put out of business by this
law due to the prohibitive testing costs. Their products might be safe, but they
can’t afford to “prove” it. Many parents care about this, their choices for
their children could be significantly limited if the mid-size, small, and micro
manufacturers all go out of business due to this.

Who should be concerned?

To the Parents of Young Students: Due to the new law, expect to see the
cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren’t originally
intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your
11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all
school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by
children under 12.

To the Avid Reader: Due to the new law, all children’s books will
be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them.
That’s okay though, there’s always television. Our children don’t need to learn
the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade: Due to the new law, you will now be
given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since
that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around
$1,000 after it’s passed testing. (More at Allsorts)

To the Environmentalist: Due to the new law, all items in
non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing
landfills... (More at Allsorts)

To the Second-Hand Shopper: Due to the new law, you will now need
to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than
shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating
children’s items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur: Due to this new law, you will be forced to
adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or
sell them... (More at Allsorts)

To the Antique Toy Collector: Due to the new law, you’d better
start buying now because it’s all going to private collection and will no longer
be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and
clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren’t certified
as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy: Already struggling under an economy that
hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with
the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and
consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small
businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Global Economy: Due to this new law, many foreign
manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the
impact of this on their businesses.

Click here for a recent article from Forbes

And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New
Law.

What can I do to help? Call your Congressman (the time for letters and emails has passed), ask them to call for a hearing from the Energy and Commerce Committee to discuss this new
law. Find out their position on this important issue. It has become a rather
partisan issue, and that helps NO ONE. Encourage them to take a bipartisan look
at the big picture here.

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No, I haven't given up already.

...I've been busy reorganizing one of my kitchens.

(Oooh, that sounds so glamorous, doesn't it? "One of my kitchens" - as if I live in a enormous expanse of a house that needs two! Yeah - notsomuch... Think 1940's Beach Cottage with weird additions.)

Anyway, I've got to make the one I use as efficient as possible, because the other one is going to become my "studio". (There I go again with the fancy descriptions.) Okay, studio/backup kitchen/laundry room. That one is really big...the one I use is the size of a Butler's Pantry. (See photo. No, that's not my kitchen...that one is way nicer. About the same size, though.)

But, the "Studikitdry" is right off the Playroom, so it will be much more convenient.

I'm so excited.

But, things probably won't REALLY get rolling until Spring.

Although...Robert is coming over tomorrow, and we're going shopping & scrounging, so...you never know!

Time for an overhaul.

Why, you ask?

Because parts of me need recreating. Because there have been periods of wearying toil and anxiety. Because I feel the need to be creative...or recreative. Because in the right hands, or with the right spirit, I believe that no thing nor person must necessarily "outlast their usefulness".

I've had a notion in mind for years of a business based in artfully repurposing items or materials. All manner of self-invented obstacles have dissuaded me, but for some reason my musings have grown into some kind of weird, visceral calling in the past few weeks. I NEED to do this.

So, I'm doing it. And I'm starting tonight, with this blog. (Well, and the online store I just set up, too, but that comes later...after the legal stuff. I'm serious, I tell you. I've done my research.) I'm going to have a business, folks...and it will be called "Ricrei"....Italian for "recreate". I did this for myself for years, but somehow lost the fun of it. I want it back.

I'll start poking around for treasures in Junk shops, Estate auctions and Yard sales again. I'll help my Dad go through the years of "stuff" accumulated in his library. I'll finally clean out my own garage and sheds! I'll surround myself with vintage fabrics and sew again. I'll get that wonderful thrill when I find a gem and immediately know what it needs, just like I used to.

And I'll bring it home. I'll dismantle it...or paint it...or refurbish it...or merge it with something totally unrelated. I'll laugh and giggle and squee. I'll get dirty, I'll become obsessed with projects until I come upon the "eureka moment" that I know is there somewhere. I'll value discarded art, I'll recycle tossed materials, I'll USE and enjoy things, finding new functions for old forms.

By example, I so hope that I will teach my son not to discard things...or people...without first examining the "what if?" I'll find my spark again. And, if I manage to make a few bucks for the family in the process...well, that will be the icing on the cake.

It's going to be fun, and I'll share it all here. Hang around and play with me!