!!! (thanks Sarah)

'Made in China'? Not at Capitol Visitors Center

• House committee bars sale of $100,000 in souvenirs because of their origin
  
• Dozens of U.S. companies want to make items instead, lawmaker says
  
• He says visitors center should send items back to China
  

By Dick Uliano
CNN Radio

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Washington souvenirs worth $100,000 -- including images of the Capitol dome and printings of the U.S. Constitution -- are locked in storage, blocked from sale in the new U.S. Capitol Visitors Center because the items are made in China.

Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Administration Committee, said he warned operators of the visitors center not to purchase merchandise made outside the United States, but they did it anyway.

Although the center has the goods in hand, Brady said, "I'm not allowing them to sell those products."

His Administration Committee oversees operations in the House of Representatives, including the House restaurant, parking facilities and the Capitol Visitors Center. A spokesman for the committee said other House gift shops also are under restrictions on items made outside the United States.

Brady, whose district includes Philadelphia, insists that it's wrong for tourists to return home with a souvenir from the nation's capital that bears a "'Made in China' sticker."

"We can certainly find people that can make souvenirs of the nation's capital in America," Brady said.

In the past 10 days, he said, up to 40 U.S. companies have contacted his office, eager to provide Capitol souvenirs and trinkets.

As for the items the Capitol Visitors Center operators got from China, Brady said, "they made the mistake; they can send them back."

He concedes that the visitors center may have to pay shipping costs to return the goods but said, "if we have to lose a little bit, we'll lose a little bit."

label- less products and such

What do i do when products are not labeled with "made in (a country)?"
I bought Mead "Press-it Seal-it" envelopes and since I was already at the cash register, I could only give the box a quick turn before handing it over. It was label-less. If OfficeMax name tags were made in China, these envelopes could just as easily been made in China. I will have to ignore the fact that there is no label... for now.

on another note...

I know it has only been 27 days, but I have become very aware of where my money goes (mostly on eating out or buying food). I no longer take random strolls through the mall, knowing that I will have longing for things just because I can't have them. (Yes, sometimes I just went to the mall or walked along streets with shops to get out of the house). Good thing I have no money to spend either : P

a thought.

Sara Bongiorni made an interesting observation while she was investigating Wal-mart's claim that only 6% of it's store was imported from China. She writes:

I've been poking around General Miscellany for a few minutes when a Chinese ceramic Jesus stops me cold...I pick him up, confirm that he is indeed from China, and then hover in the aisle and study him...He looks melancholy, and he makes me feel the same. What I'd like to know is whether anybody bothers to explain who this guy is to the Chinese workers who crafted him. It seems only fair that if you are going to ask somebody to spend 14 hours a day painting Jesus figurines then you might mention the big picture to them, perhaps tell them his name, and even point out that he cuts quite a figure in religious circles around the globe...we've got Jesus, famous defender of the poor, molded and painted by poor Chinese workers on the other side of the world...he generates sales for the richest retailer in the world.

How ironic the whole picture is. Unless the company that manufactures the ceramic Jesus is a Christian company in China to utilize business as a means for evangelism (which I doubt), there is something very wrong here. However, I cannot judge the company since 1. I don't know who manufactured the ceramic, 2. I don't know how much the workers are being paid, and 3. I don't know the conditions under which they are working. I can only conclude through my limited research and what the media has said that most workers in China are underpaid and are working in terrible conditions.

What struck me about the paragraph was the sentence "What I'd like to know is whether anybody bothers to explain who this guy is to the Chinese workers..." Do they even wonder? Are they curious at all? And, what do the products they are producing for Americans say about Americans? Why would Americans want a ceramic of a white man with long hair dressed in sandals and what can only look like a long night gown? What is the purpose for this figurine?

If anything, my voluntary sacrifice of goods made in China would be to protest against the companies that take advantage of the workers and to stop buying into the consumerism mindset. Honestly, my research into the conditions of the workers has not been thorough and I have barely scratched the surface on this. I know that I am barely making a dent in the economy and one single person not participating in the purchasing of China made goods is hardly noticed in America. My challenge to you few readers? Try going one month without buying a single item marked with the words "Made in China."

(I apologize if my thoughts seem scattered and lacks any sense.)

Day 16

I failed today.  Sticky name tags I bought from Office Max today were made in China.  In my rush to get to church for REV, I forgot to check the tags on the packaging.  Let me just say that no one should buy the Office Max brand of name tags.  Not because they are made in China, but because they don't actually stick to clothing.  

Hopefully, checking tags and labels will become more of a habit for me.

A Year Without "Made in China" was a very interesting read. I wanted to comment on the book as I read it, but I pretty much finished it in one sitting.  So, throughout next week, I am going to type up my thoughts about the authors experience and conclusion.

razors.

I realized why my Greek made razors were $2 cheaper than the China made ones- they don't work as well.  My friend who lived in Greece for a month made a comment on that.  She said the women there don't shave, or rather don't shave very well.  I guess that explains it.

hello 2009, goodbye meat and China

I have decided to journaml my journey through 2009 without meat (cow, chicken, pig) and without China. I have no real reason for not eating meat, except to just wanting to try. What do I mean in saying "without China?" Well, I saw this book called A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. Sounded interesting and VERY difficult. How can we survive in America without purchasing products made in China? It has only been 8 days and already I am feeling like I'm going to cave in before the year is over. I think this will make me very conscious of my spending habits.

Honestly, I already broke it...
I was in need of hair ties and I bought a pack without checking where it was made. Thankfully, I realized in time and I returned it about an hour later.

I took a trip to Target yesterday because I ran out of some necessities at home. It took a little longer to purchase items since i was checking every tag and package, but thankfully, most of what I needed was made in the USA. The toughest was looking for razors...

What I bought:

Charmin toilet paper
Target brand paper towel
2 small Itso plastic bins
BIC razors (made in Greece)
Silk Soy Milk
Special K cereal
Simply Orange Juice (no pulp)

Walking around the mall was the toughest. My favorite sneakers made from Converse are made in China. Actually, most shoes were made in China. Jeans and other clothing were mostly made in China. Even the expensive brands. The sneaky part was that some brands hid their "made in..." tag in strange spots. Make-up (minus, the brushes and applicators) were USA made or European made.

In the end of the forward to the book, the author said she was asked if she would be able to do it again. Her response? "Not a chance."

well, here it goes...