Update: No Made-In-China Resolution

Well, our New Years' Resolution is definitely impacting our shopping, but actually not as much as I thought it would. We had a few purchases in which our hand was somewhat forced to choose China:

• We successfully found a BluRay DVD player that was not made in China --- thank you Sony for providing us with this option. However, we could not find any cables for the BluRay player that were not made in China. Lapse.
  
• We are committed to not buying leather products with the exception of Grace's shoes (it is seemingly impossible to find orthopedically-friendly toddlers' shoes that are not leather). Well, Jeff needed new work shoes and the vegan shoes that we found were made in China. We chose made in China over leather. Seemed like the lesser of bad choices.

Other than that, those were our only "forced" China purchases this month. Another interesting discovery that I still don't quite understand is that at a single store, you can find the same shoes --- exact same color, size, style, brand --- made two different places. For example, I needed some new Converse All-Stars. The ones I have that are worn out are made in China. But I decided to look to see if perhaps they had changed their location of manufacturing. I was happily surprised to see Made in Vietnam on the first pair I picked up. I went ahead and chose some out in my size. Those were made in China. Hmm. I picked up a second pair in my size and they were made in Vietnam. I do not know if the skew number was different for the two, so is my buying the made in Vietnam ones really registering with the store that I chose made in China? I decided that issue just needed an email to Converse to explain my preference. I was very happy to discover I could buy my shoes though.

Not too shabby of a month though. We'll see what we find in February.

Love Those Primigi Shoes

In Her Primigis at Christmas

Grace has outgrown another pair of shoes. She now wears a size 6. With our Not-Made-in-China resolution, one might think it would be hard to find new shoes for her. One would be right.

However, last time we needed to purchase new shoes for Grace, I discovered Primigi shoes at Nordstrom. They are the only brand of toddler shoes that I have found that are not made in China. Primigi shoes are orthopedically friendly for kiddos her size, they are quite handsome, and they are made in Italy. Alas, they are made of leather, but in our guidelines for buying shoes for her, something had to give. Her last pair held up extremely well, and we are not so easy on our shoes around her. She was quite comfortable in them.

Yesterday we ordered a second pair for her, this time in brown. No doubt we will put them to the test. And I have confidence they will do quite well. Brand loyalty deserved.

Hello 2010. Zai Jian (Goodbye) Made in China.

So it is that time of year when we make our resolutions. Mine usually focus on self improvement such as sleep more, eat better as defined by xyz, and so on. This year, there are a few of those on my list, but there is one biggie that is really going to cause quite a shift. It that has been a fuzzy guideline for the last few years for us, but often gives way to convenience. Here it is: In 2010 I will not buy products that are made in China.

Back in my idealist, pure-free-market thinking days (circa 2000-2005) I used to actively make the argument that our relationship with China was a good thing. We exported our pollution and the jobs we do not want to do so we could focus on higher endeavors. Thinking I was clever, quoting The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection by Russell Roberts, I poo-pooed the Made in America movement as something for those who were not willing to adapt. Yeah, well, I was wrong. Really wrong. The free market does not exist and we are all connected. My compliance with and support of (through purchasing) our imbalanced trade and the practices in China towards people and animals is not acceptable.

I don't necessarily support tariffs or nationally sponsored protectionism either though. I don't think it is our government's place. I believe we, the consumers, of the United States of America are going to have to make the difference. [Acknowledgement: A little preachy there. So be it.]

I toyed with this as a resolution a couple of years ago, but decided it was too difficult (aka inconvenient). Let's just say my threshold for difficult has been raised as I increasingly find myself griping about our national debt situation, but have not been willing to inconvenience myself to do something about it.

Additionally, China's general tone of blatant disregard for animal and human rights makes me that much happier with my resolution. I acknowledge as valid China's regular response of what the Chinese government does in their country with their animals, their people, and their resources is not of international concern, but in purchasing from them, I am empowering them to continue with policies and practices I don't agree with. And I don't want to empower them anymore.

Here are the guidelines:

• Finished Goods. I recognize that some of the products (most?) will have components made in China. But I will not buy finished goods for myself or our household that are made in China.
• Contacting Vendors and Manufacturers. I am contacting my regular stores and brands that sell goods made in China to let them know I will no longer be purchasing products made there. I believe it is only fair to let them know.
• The Loop Hole. If I must purchase a product made in China (i.e if we need a part for one of our cars that is only made in China), I will contact the vendor (i.e. Lexus or Nissan) to inform them that I would prefer a product made elsewhere and that I do not appreciate not having a choice.

This resolution is going to be potentially difficult at times. However, I did not make this resolution willy nilly; I think we can make a good run at it. It will just take a little longer to shop at times and I might just have to not purchase some items.

I recognize that my buying power is just a small drop in the bucket. But, if nothing else, it will assuage my sense that I am idly griping. And, who knows, it might just make a difference. So here we go.