Save Handmade Baby Goods and the American Dream

If you haven’t already heard there is an incredibly STUPID law that was passed pretending to protect children from lead. Unfortunately out of what I believe is probably ignorance and laziness on the part of lawmakers the way the law is worded extends so broadly that it will mean most handmade artisans will either be functioning illegally or be forced to close. Luckily there has been such an outcry from the crafting community that lawmakers are making amendments. Two of the etsy teams I’m apart of (etsybaby and etsykids) are working together to try and spread the word and get more petitions out. Some are even offering sales find out participating shops here (note that there are pages if you look on the bottom)

Basically the law says that all products must be tested by a third party for lead, the dumb part is that the components have already been tested. This means hundreds to thousands of dollars per product (even if you use the same components!). And really how on earth am I going to be able to put lead into and outfit just buy sewing it up! Yeah. Plus this pretty much means that no company that is not already HUGE would be able to afford to stay in business, so that means no more unique, handmade, companies, lots of wasted merchandise will go to landfills and so many other awful implications. So much for the American dream right?

We are hoping that even more exemptions will be made. And while there are rumors that the law may not be strictly enforced on crafters, why keep a law that makes people have to chose to technically break it you know? Plus it opens the door for people to decide to pass out fines, etc. down the road, it’s just so dumb. And while most of the news reports just mention toys many people worry that the language is broad enough to apply to clothing, bibs, blankets, etc. And even if we find out that it doesn’t apply to me please do it for all the people that it will impact

Please take a couple minutes (seriously it’s fast)and make your voice know that you want handmade products (where components already undergo testing) to be exempt. Here are a few very quick ways to do it. I swear it’s fast and I have yet to receive any spam from any of these places. Thanks so much for considering helping in this effort. Please pass on the word to any one who may take the couple of minutes to help. (even just one helps!)

Just click quickly create a log in (it’s just so you can only vote once, I’ve gotten no spam) and vote.

and here’s an petition equally as easy it asks for a donation at the

end but if you close the window it still takes your signature

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html

And these will send a letter to your congress people (just enter your address and it’ll find the appropriate people) and this one I’ve seen no spam either.

https://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476