Monthly Archives: January 2009

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, before reading this post on what you can do about this situation.

I certainly never planned to take all the time I have in reading, researching, and responding to the CPSIA. Even though I’m very concerned about safety (especially when it concerns my children!) I just hoped this was pretty much internet fear-mongering. Sadly, it is not.

I am also very against huge government regulations, i.e. loss of individual responsibility and individual liberty. When I began hearing how far reaching this horrendous piece of legislation is, I had to take a more serious look, and when I began getting personal emails and questions about it, I had to write on it. What I found is far less than pretty. It is an economic nightmare for all parents and all Americans.

I’m not into cheap plastic toys for my children, I’m far too “naturalistic” for that. Give me (my children) organic fabric and natural wood and plenty of old, real books, and I’m pleased. But this law goes way beyond banning cheap Chinese junk (and doesn’t necessarily do that). It does threaten the availability of things we do use and love.

Rather than addressing the problem as it is, they chose (through this law) to regulate everything having to do with children’s products. Rather than banning Chinese imports of children’s items that have not been tested, they decided all children’s products, no matter who made them or where or when, or whether there’s really any legitimate chance that they actually contain anything that is really any threat or not, must be tested and proven to not contain any lead or other banned substances.

The first 3 parts of this article talked about just some of the implications of this bad law. In this final Part I’m giving you some action steps. We all need to take action on this one.

What action can you take regarding the CPSIA?

1) Pray – that the law would be repealed or greatly ammended to make it more realistic.  Most (?all) of the products that caused the problems were imported from China. So why don’t we ban imports of children’s products from China? That would go far in stimulating our economy instead of destroying it. It would boost our economy by promoting American made children’s products.

Pray also for the small & family businesses that are being devastated by this right now. Pray for guidance as they make decisions over the next several days, and for God’s provision for their families. (I’ve already heard from one home ed business friend that they are liquidating their physical inventory and closing that aspect of their business.)

2) Read the legislation itself.

http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/cpsia/legislation.html

And do more research. You’ll find info all over the web, much of it fear mongering, some of it not completely accurate, some of it very helpful. I’m only giving a couple links. The first to the article some of the quotes I’ve given came from:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=85542
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift9-2009jan09,0,7588285.story
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story

3) Contact the CPSC.

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/contact.html

Call Nancy Nord – acting head of the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission – 301-504-7923. If she’s busy, leave a brief, 
polite, but firm 
message.

Call the CPSC ombudsman’s office – 888-531-9070

4) Contact your representatives. You can write them directly at these first 2 links, or send a “form letter”, that you can add to, at the last link. I highly recommend personal calls/letters/emails, but if you’ll only do it by form letter, at least do that.

http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
http://www.house.gov/

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

5) Sign petitions. There are many petitions out there now. You can google CPSIA petitions and get a bunch. Make sure you read any you sign, as all may not state your position. This is one of the first, from the children’s clothing industry. Others have to do with the used items, and not all are worded in a way that applies with the new “clarification.” Others are written in a pro-big government way, just wanting a specific exemption.

http://ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html

6) Spread the word! Let your friends, neighbors and even enemies know about this. And encourage them to take the above actions.

7) Did I mention Prayer? Don’t get wigged out about this. Don’t let it steal your peace. Just take the appropriate actions, and then remember God holds all things in His hands. Regardless of how this goes, He is still on the throne!

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Order Christian & Home Ed Resources here

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Please read Part 1 and Part 2 of this article before reading this post.

Regulations as huge as this new CPSIA will also, of course have great ramifications on our economy in the broader sense, beyond just our own personal purchases, what is available and what kind of prices we have to pay. It will greatly increase our taxes.

Not only will all our own home ed supplies have to have certification, but so will those in the public schools, and we all pay for those. We all pay for those textbooks, and manipulatives, and games, and other supplies used by children at the public schools – and our public libraries. Now we also will be paying to have each of those tested. Will library sales be allowed to continue? Can they take that risk? But the question has been asked, will they be able to continue to lend untested books and children’s products? Are they “at risk” in doing so?

We also will all be paying for the increased staff at the CPSC, going up from 367 to 500 employees. We will also pay for the investigation and prosecution of any that don’t comply.

The measure raises the CPSC budget each year until 2015, at which time the agency’s budget would be $156 million. [The budget was $62/63 million last year.]

I’ve only noted a few of the implications of this really bad legislation. This will affect our lives far more than the general “economic slump” we’re in.

It will not directly affect our family ministry/ business personally. Our business has gone to all e-resources (download it, print it yourself products,) over the last few years. But it will greatly affect us as a family (and every family and person in America, whether they have children or not.) We buy a lot of used children’s products yearly – books, clothing, etc. And even more so, we buy many resources from small publishers/ producers. Those that the testing costs will be prohibitive to.

To the big companies that produce thousands, 10’s and 100’s of thousands of products at a time, having every “batch” tested may not be a big deal. What’s a few hundred or thousand dollars? (Although of course it will be passed on in the final cost of those items. And of course the cost will be passed on from those productions that didn’t pass the test, and had to be destroyed.)

To those who produce in small quantities the cost will be prohibitive. The testing would cost far more than the item, even a whole batch run, itself. Many of these small businesses are truly shoestring businesses. They don’t have huge stockpiles of inventory. The produce 20, 50, or 100 items at a time. Some 1 item at a time.

We will not only be unable to buy all the used things we are used to buying, but will pay higher prices for new items, to cover the testing costs (and “at risk” or “failed” inventory that can’t be sold.) We will not be able to recoup some of our investment of this year’s books, clothes, toys, etc. by selling them used to help pay for next year’s, unless we are willing to take the risk. As mentioned in Part 1, landfills will undoubtedly be hit extremely hard, as things are thrown away instead of taking the risk to “pass them on.” Or at least I keep hearing “landfills”, but really if these are “hazardous products” will we (individuals, businesses, schools, libraries, etc.) really be able to throw them away, or will they need to be disposed of by the “hazardous waste” businesses? Can you imagine the cost of that?!

Check back tomorrow for what you can do. For today, as always, continue to pray!

Go to Part 4.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Order Christian & Home Ed Resources here

Get future posts to this blog by email:

Please read Part 1 before continuing this post/series on the new CPSIA.

The availability of used children’s products is just the tip of the iceberg of the reaches of this new law. Obviously, anything used won’t have this certification, unless the seller chooses to pay the prohibitive cost to have each item tested, but think now of the new products, that this law enacts strict regulations for.

This law was written out of the concern of lead in children’s toys. However, as they have extended it to cover all children’s products (anything intended for use by those under 12 years of age) it’s reaches go far beyond toys from China.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission states that lead testing requirements apply to children’s books, cassettes and CDs, printed game boards, posters and other printed goods used for children’s education. While it does claim some printing inks will be exempt, paper, cardboard, bindings, glues, laminates and other inks are still subject to regulation and require testing.

Let’s look at the implications to us as home educators, and particularly the home education resource market.

Many home education books, CD’s, games, manipulatives, flashcards, magazines, and such are published by small self-publishers, many times home educating families that author the materials. Many of these small businesses will not be able to afford the required testing (anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars for each component, in each production run,) and won’t risk the fines and imprisonment to continue their businesses. They will be at risk in selling any of the inventory they have in stock on Feb. 10th that has not been tested. I’m part of a group of Christian self-publishers, many of them publishers of home ed resources that you all know and love, and many of them are wrestling with this right now. Will they be able to continue their businesses after Feb. 10th? They are watching and waiting, and working to find solutions that will allow them to remain in business, as for many of them, this is a “calling” and a ministry to fellow home educators.

This also will affect many other cottage industries, such as those that make clothing, knitted or crocheted items, blankets, and diapers, to name a few. I think of the many WAHMs that make diapers and wraps and such, or crocheted booties, bonnets, and sweaters, or afghans, blankets, quilts, or those that sew modest clothing for those that don’t sew, etc. Think also of those that make “natural” or “one of a kind” children’s items and toys – such as wooden cars, or cloth dolls, or handmade jewelry, etc.

This law is not only a potential disaster for used children’s items trading, but also for small businesses that manufacture anything for children. Pray for those that have been suddenly faced with the fact that their business may not be able to continue after this month. I really don’t want to see my dearly loved companies that produce dearly loved products go out of business. Many of them are my friends. I care about their families and their livelihood. I also care about the home educators that will miss out on much of the absolute best resources if these are forced to close up shop.

Think of the implication this will have on our economy. The shut down of multitudes of small businesses that just can’t afford to pay for the tests, or in the case of used items take the risk of selling untested items, will affect us all. The bankruptcies, the unemployment, the lost/unusable inventory, these are just a few more implications of this new law, that is amputating the arm to cure the hangnail.

Check back tomorrow to see implications.

In the meantime, and as always, remember, we serve a living Sovereign God. He holds history and the future, nations as well as individuals, in His hand. America and her economic structure does not provide our Salvation, He alone does.

Go to Part 3.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Order Christian & Home Ed Resources here

Get future posts to this blog by email:

to cure the hangnail.

Not only have regulations multiplied exponentially in our nation in our lifetimes, a new law that will take affect on Feb. 10th has the potential of truly changing “life as we know it.”

Congress overwhelming approved it – with only Ron Paul, in the House, and 3 Senators voting against it. GW signed it into law – stamped his approval – in Aug. It is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, CPSIA.

I’m amazed at the “quietness” of this law. Many of the people that will be affected by this law as businesses, are just now hearing of it! IOW, their business may be completely illegal in a month, and they don’t know about it!

The law stems from the problem of lead being found in children’s products recently (2007). So to protect us all the CPSC has determined that every product (each production batch) for children under the age of 12 must be tested for lead, and certified to be “lead-free” (one acceptable level for the Feb. date, a much lower acceptable allowance in a few months). The fine for anyone selling or giving a child’s product that has not be “certified” is $100,000 per incidence and up to 5 years in prison.

This law will apply to used or new products, anything for children. In an update (“clarification”) issued yesterday (Jan. 8th) it was stated that used items do not have to be tested to be resold, but they are still under the same compliance. i.e. If you sell, attempt to sell, market, etc. an item that is discovered later to not comply to the regulations, you are held responsible. Here is just a short list of the things that could become illegal contraband – a felony to give or sell – after Feb. 10th.

Used clothing, blankets, bedding, etc.
Used toys, games
Used books and other media.

“All untested items, regardless of lead content, are to be declared “banned hazardous products.” The CPSC has already determined the law applies to every children’s item on shelves, not just to items made beginning Feb. 10.”

This quote may seem a little alarmist, as the “clarification” yesterday states that these used products can be sold, but at the risk of later prosecution. Those that deal in used items have to weigh whether that is a risk worth taking. This will have implications on thrift stores, ebay, consignment shops, flea markets, craft shows, used curriculum fairs, used book elists or websites, antique book stores, areas of antique stores, libraries – even garage sales. Anyone or anywhere that has been selling (or giving) used children’s items will need to look at closing their doors or taking the risk – at least the “children’s” aspect of that business.

This will have deep ramifications for any of us that buy used products for our children out of necessity – whether their clothing, toys, or curriculum. It will have deep implications for those that make their living selling used children’s items. It will have deep ramifications on our nation’s landfills as perfectly good and usable items are thrown away, rather than taking the risk of reselling them.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Check back tomorrow to see the implications for new children’s products, especially to us as home educators.

Go to Part 2.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Order Christian & Home Ed Resources here

Get future posts to this blog by email: