If you support WAHM's and small companies this will affect YOU! - Page 3

[aniT]

Originally Posted by Flor

If my rep isn't on the committee, who should I write to? A random rep, the entire committee, ?? Email or snail mail?

There was a link for questions a couple posts up. I went there and posted my comment/question. It is supposed to go straight to the committee who I believe is meeting today.

[Mama Dragon]

Originally Posted by aniT

There was a link for questions a couple posts up. I went there and posted my comment/question. It is supposed to go straight to the committee who I believe is meeting today.

Oh I hope so, and I hope they got my very short but to the point comment on how they are royally screwing over the small business owner but not doing a lot to change things nationwide.

[Peggy O'Mara]

Mothering Toy Article

I'm sorry that it looks like Mothering is not in support of small advertisers because of our praise for the CPSIA in the November/December issue. This is not the case. We copyedited Mindy's article in July, three months after the bill was passed, and printed the issue in early September. We were praising the action to ban lead and phthalates, but were not aware then of the impact of the law on small businesses. We have since been made aware of this by our advertisers and are putting up an action alert today about the oversight hearing Wednesday in Washington on the CPSIA. Pasted below is the info I researched on Friday for the action. It will be with the action alert on the site this afternoon. Please encourage everyone you know to contact their representatives, especially those representatives who sit on the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection or to go to Washington. We want to do everything we can to change this bill or to have it rescinded so please email me directly about any action we should put on the site. This bill is the usual practice of appearing to look good for the consumer, while still supporting big business at the expense of our children. This law just makes it harder for the companies that are already doing the right thing to keep doing it. Please also check out the action at Moms Rising regarding the fact that the lead and phthalate tainted products are staying on the shelf until February. Thank you for letting me know your concerns.


Please contact your congressional representatives regarding the burden that the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) places on small manufacturers. Below is a list of the committee members who will hold an oversight hearing entitled, “Implementation of the CPSIA: Urgent Questions about Application Dates, Testing and Certification, and Protecting Children” on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 10 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building.

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 
COMMERCE, TRADE, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
(Ratio: 16-13)
 Bobby L. Rush (IL), Chairman
Jan Schakowsky, IL, Vice ChairEd Whitfield, KY, Ranking Member*
G. K. Butterfield, NC Cliff Stearns, FL
John Barrow, GA Charles W. "Chip" Pickering, MS
Baron P. Hill, IN Vito Fossella, NY
Edward J. Markey, MA George Radanovich, CA
Rick Boucher, VA Joseph R. Pitts, PA
Edolphus Towns, NY Mary Bono Mack, CA
Diana DeGette, CO Lee Terry, NE
Charles A. Gonzalez, TX Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC
Mike Ross, AR John Sullivan, OK***
Darlene Hooley, OR Michael C. Burgess, TX
Anthony D. Weiner, NY Marsha Blackburn, TN
Jim Matheson, UT Joe Barton, TX (Ex Officio)
Charlie Melancon, LA
John D. Dingell (Ex Officio)


To contact your representatives, go to

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

To contact your senators, go to

http://www.senate.gov/general/contac...nators_cfm.cfm


Ask Acting Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Honorable Nancy Nord, to uphold the fairness of the CPSIA. She made the following statement on April 14, 2008
“The new product safety legislation signed into law today is a victory for parents and consumers. New regulatory authorities and enforcement tools, many of which I asked of Congress last year, will make it easier for CPSC to find and recall unsafe products made around the world. CPSC is ready to implement the law fully, fairly and in a way that bolsters the safety of children’s products and increases consumer confidence.”

Contact her at the CPSC:

[e-mail]
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[Peggy O'Mara]

contact your rep

Sorry the list is scrambled. It's supposed to be two columns. They say that the most effective action is to call or email your own representative to tell her or him your concerns. You can call your local office or the Washington office. Both of those numbers will be on the links in my post before. We decided not to do a group action because the individual contacts are given more weight.

[aniT]

Figures Darlene Hooley, OR is on the list. I don't think she is "my" rep though. If this hearing is Wed. rather than today like I thought, I will email at nap-time. It's hard to form coherent sentences with a 2 year old running about.

[fruitfulmomma]

Thank you for the response Peggy. I did not in anyway mean to imply that you were against small business and am sorry if it came across that way. Clearly the article was promoting small, safe businesses. After thinking it through last night, I thought it was probably a case of the article already being sent to print *before* all of this stuff about it affecting small business owners came out and of course there is nothing you can do about that.

[Peggy O'Mara]

No problem. It's hard to imagine how much in advance we print the magazine and, of course, so much changes so quickly in the online world. I'm glad we all have time to contact our representatives.

[NoliMum]

This seems ridiculous. $4,000 per toy? Not even Fisher Price could afford that. Some of this must be misinformation.

Unfortunately I can't translate the "legalese" of the new law as posted on the CPSC website. I couldn't get through the first paragraph.

The only thing I can think of that would change about handmade toys is that they would have to change their name to "novelty" instead of "toy." They can't be banned from selling the actual product, just the product under the label "toy." You can sell just about anything if it's got the right label.

I mean, we are talking about every.single. handmade toy website, boutique, craft fair, farmer's market, garage sale, booth vendor, etc. being shut down. I don't see how this is likely or even possible.

[Peggy O'Mara]

Action Alert on Homepage

The action alert is on the homepage now. We will be adding a letter from Rob Wilson at Challenge and Fun later today. Please call or email your reps asap.

[notwonamesalike]

Has anyone contacted local news agencies, or any of the major networks with this information?

[Ms. Mom]

I just wanted to post the link to the action alert on the homepage. Thank you Peggy.

[ReneeC]

Originally Posted by aniT

I don't WANT my fabrics flame retarded and is pisses me off that the government forces me/my family to sleep in/wear toxic chemicals. :

Grumble grumble grumble grumble

They haven't made any changes to the flammable fabrics act that would require all fabrics to be flame retardant. You will still be able to make the choice between buying polyester (which is considered to be naturally flame retardant and exempt from testing) or close-fitting cotton sleepwear. The laws also only apply to the outermost layer of fabric.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by ReneeC

They haven't made any changes to the flammable fabrics act that would require all fabrics to be flame retardant. You will still be able to make the choice between buying polyester (which is considered to be naturally flame retardant and exempt from testing) or close-fitting cotton sleepwear. The laws also only apply to the outermost layer of fabric.

Uhh.. I don't buy polyester. It is nothing but spun plastic as far as I am concerned. It feels disgusting to touch to me.

A friend of mine wanted some night gowns for her daughter with sensory issues. You can't buy cotton ones because they don't make them. The only thing you can buy is spun plastic. I suggest she buy some cotton flannel and have her mom make some.

And I don't care that they didn't change the flammable fabric's act. It is the point that it is just another piece of legislation to "protect us for our own good." But in reality it takes the choice of choose safe products for our family away from us. Which is what it looks like this legislation is going to do as well.

[ReneeC]

Those who are wondering how the laws apply to cloth diapers specifically, as well as why I *don't* think we should be asking to be excluded (I am talking about cloth diaper WAHMs specifically, not toymakers--I don't make toys, so I'll leave that up to someone else )...I wrote this article after having realized what a unique opportunity this is to finally differentiate between disposable and cloth diapers in the minds of consumers. Disposable diaper manufacturers took over solid control of the market in the late 80's/early 90's with flawed studies that made disposables look just as environmentally safe as cloth (if not more so)...well, maybe it's time to take back control of the diaper market on the issue of health.

I've been in contact with the Real Diaper Industry Association, and I strongly encourage any cloth diaper making WAHMs to join our trade association. They are seeking legal counsel regarding the CPSIA, and our collective bargaining power as a cohesive industry can accomplish far more than internet petitions and calling your representatives.

The article:


The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act: An Awareness Mission for Cloth Diaper Work-At-Home-Moms

Sada Cushman
December 5, 2008


As a brief overview: right now, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) is hard at work hammering out the specifics of the new Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). It includes all-encompassing laws regarding lead bans in products intended to be used by or for children under the age for 12, as well as bans of phthalates in toys and certain child care items, and updates to the Flammable Fabrics Act. The exact details of how this will affect Work-At-Home-Moms, especially WAHMs who sew and sell cloth diapers, are not clear as of this writing. The CPSC is currently classifying cloth diapers as "wearing apparel," pending review. This means that WAHMs will be required to test diapers for lead (and possibly for flammability of the fabrics, depending on which ones are used), as well as completing certificates to give to retailers (or to keep on file for direct-to-consumer sales). Many WAHMs are scrambling to figure out how they will comply with the law (which goes into effect on February 10, 2009), while others are watching anxiously to see how the CPSC will decide to classify and regulate cloth diapers, as baby diapers are currently an unregulated product in the CPSC database. There have been internet petitions started, and people are being encouraged to contact their congressperson to encourage them to exclude WAHMs from the regulatory oversight of this Act.


Is That Really What We Want?

I know that’s a shocking question to all the WAHMs whose heads are spinning, overwhelmed and confused by the few direct answers we’ve gotten. But I encourage you to take a step back for a moment and consider this “from the other side” of our market.

Has anyone else wondered how this is going to effect disposable diapers? They are a product intended for use by children under the age of 12. We're having a hard enough time figuring out what standards our diapers made of fabric fall under...what about a piece of plastic, bleached wood pulp fluff, SAP gel and who-knows-what? Where do you even start testing that for child safety?


An Awareness Mission for Cloth Diaper Work-At-Home-Moms


What if we make it our goal to go along with this wholeheartedly, to work with the CPSC (if at all possible, through the Real Diaper Industry Association as our representative trade association) to hammer out specific regulations for cloth diapers, because we know our product is superior and safer. Basically, instead of fighting to take down this whole thing...we don't want cloth diapers and small businesses excluded, but rather to have them included in a specific (and helpful to us, via information about the specific risks inherent in the materials we use) way. If we stand by our product, we have nothing to fear. We need to stress to the CPSC that cloth diapers and disposable diapers are different, and need to be regulated differently.

The marketing approach that I see in this could be especially effective locally (at child fairs, farmer's markets, craft fairs, cloth diaper lessons, maybe even in crunchy-leaning kid's boutiques). Make a poster, a flier, a banner, a display. Put up a page on your website. However you can, tell the consumers about the new Children's Products regulations that are going into effect, regulations that require testing for certain harmful chemicals. Take them along the path that lead up to this Act--lead in plastic toys, in paint on wooden toys, in lunchboxes and bibs! Phthalates in bottles and pacifiers! MELAMINE in BABY FORMULA!
And then, ask them the question:
Do you know what your child's diapers are made of?

[ReneeC]

Originally Posted by aniT

A friend of mine wanted some night gowns for her daughter with sensory issues. You can't buy cotton ones because they don't make them. The only thing you can buy is spun plastic. I suggest she buy some cotton flannel and have her mom make some.

You can in fact buy cotton sleepwear for children. Carter's makes them for one, I bought 100% cotton pajamas for my DS at Target. They have a hang tag on them that states that the fabric is not flame resistant and that the garment needs to be tight fitting.

And for an older child (because the regulations cover up to size 14, I believe), you could purchase the smallest women's size if you're having trouble finding 100% cotton nightgowns, because clothing manufactured for and marketed to adults doesn't have to meet the sleepwear flammability laws.

[aniT]

Late 80's early 90's? I worse disposable diapers and I promise that was LONG before the 80's. My brother wore only disposable diapers in the late 70's. I had never seen anyone wear cloth diapers until the mid 80's and that was becuase they were poor and couldn't afford diapers.

In my world disposable diapers were used by everyone except the very poor (meaning those who didn't qualify for AFDC, but if you had AFDC you could afford disposable diapers.) as far back as the late 70's.

Also it is my understanding that they are only testing for lead. What are the chances that there are lead in disposable diapers? They aren't testing for all the other contaminates in disposable diapers. I don't see how this is going to effect them at all. It would be nice however.. if it did. But they would probably buy their way out of it.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by ReneeC

You can in fact buy cotton sleepwear for children. Carter's makes them for one, I bought 100% cotton pajamas for my DS at Target. They have a hang tag on them that states that the fabric is not flame resistant and that the garment needs to be tight fitting.

And for an older child (because the regulations cover up to size 14, I believe), you could purchase the smallest women's size if you're having trouble finding 100% cotton nightgowns, because clothing manufactured for and marketed to adults doesn't have to meet the sleepwear flammability laws.

I didn't say you couldn't buy cotton sleepware. I said you can't buy cotton nightgowns. They are not snug fitting.

A small size woman's nightgown is not going to fit a three year old.

[AllyRae]

I can only imagine this will have a huge impact on every facet of our economy. I mean, I don't even think places like gymboree can afford to have every single new item they make tested (they come out with multiple new lines a month, consisting of multiple items--at $4000 a pop, that is outrageous!). So even the bigger stores seem like they would struggle with this law too.

I am all about making sure products we give our children are as safe as possible (but that doesn't stop the government for ok'ing melamine in formula. Ugh.). But why not make it $40 an item? Something reasonable! $4000 is robbery, and I don't even know if Fisher Price or Gerber or Carters could afford that for every single new item that's created.

Or it should be a choice thing--don't submit your product but be forced to say you do not have a certificate of safety. Then, parents can make the choice whether to buy the object knowing it hasn't been safety tested (so grandpa can continue to sell wooden toys, make it clear the toys don't have the certificate, and I can buy them knowing I trust his products to be safe with or without the certificate. But the big manufacturers that I don't trust as much give me the information I need to make an informed decision).

[aniT]

Originally Posted by AllyRae

Or it should be a choice thing--don't submit your product but be forced to say you do not have a certificate of safety. Then, parents can make the choice whether to buy the object knowing it hasn't been safety tested (so grandpa can continue to sell wooden toys, make it clear the toys don't have the certificate, and I can buy them knowing I trust his products to be safe with or without the certificate. But the big manufacturers that I don't trust as much give me the information I need to make an informed decision).

Pfft, I still wouldn't trust Mattel or Fisher price even with the certificate. Just like I would rather buy local, "naturally grown" food than food from big companies who could afford the USDA organic certification. I no longer 100% trust that.

[Ifluffedthree]

Originally Posted by abimommy

Some paint manufacturers do make "kid's paint" that is in bright cheery colors for kid's rooms.

I silk screen kids t-shirts in addition to dying them.

paints and screen inks all have pigments. It is the pigments that can contain the lead/philates. My wholesale ink supplier provides me with compliance papers to document that I am using lead and philate compliant inks. I also have designated my tools to such so as not to cross contaminate them in my work areas.

The manufacturer should supply you. Same with snaps -- I have my international certification to verify that my snaps are compliant. Dyes don't contain lead as they are not made from pigment. HTH some.