With all the toy recalls from lead paint, swallow-able magnets and the like, the Consumer Products Safety Commission has crafted an act designed to 'protect' us by banning lead and phthalates in toys (good) and mandating third-party testing and certification for ALL toys (not good). This latter issue would apply to all toys, including handmade. The costs involved with testing and certification would be prohibitive for most handmade toymakers (think Etsy), so handmade toys would go away. Big mass, overseas manufacturers can handle the costs, but those are the folks who brought on these issues in the first place. It's the woodworker and the knitter who craft beloved toys, one by one, in your town who will suffer. And we will suffer because our only options will be Fisher-Price and friends. The CPSC needs to abandon this act and re-craft it so that this issue applies only to the monster offenders.
So what can you do?
You can vote at You can visit the Handmade Toy Alliance site and use their form letter and email it to your legislator You can email your friends (and post on Facebook) all this info and encourage them to act
Barack Obama's (not his site, sorry) this Web site (you have to register to vote)
(Etsy sellers above L-R: Pogo Shop, Just Felt Hungry, Lissa)
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