Christmas shopping

I went to BigLots last night (my first mistake) to get a few last minute little items. I wanted a toy for two little girls in Germany - every play set, jewelry making kit, paint by number, Barbie - they were all made in China. Then I tried to find liquid soap - all 7 brands made in China. That had me concerned because then I wondered if there might not be poisonous substances accidentally allowed in the soaps that could leach into your skin with repeated use. I also was looking for an item for a male relative - everything I picked up to consider was made in China. Of course, it goes with my theory, if it was made in China, you probably don't need it anyway. But isn't that half the fun in Christmas shopping, buying things for people that they don't need or wouldn't buy themselves? Anyway, today I head out to a couple nice stores - World Market, for one, to see how I can do.

More Halloween shopping

I gave up on Halloween stores for purchasing my wig. I went to the California Merchandise Company in Santa Ana and found a beautiful wig labeled "50% made in USA, 50% made in Japan".

I also went to BigLots recently to finish putting together an earthquake kit. One of the items on my list was rope. There was no rope there not made in China - thick, thin, nylon, cotton, bungee cord - all made in China. The search goes on.

Halloween

I went shopping for a Halloween party I'm having. I LOVE Halloween. It is the only "holiday" for which I purchase home decor. Basically every piece of decor is made in China. From the cool door knocker that makes scary sounds to glow in the dark skulls to fake gargoyles. I didn't buy any new decorations. That made me sad. The only thing I absolutely needed was spider webs. I looked in Big Lots and Target - made in China. At the Party Store they had some, both white, black AND glow-in-the-dark, made in the USA!! I also need a wig for my Sarah Palin costume. So far, no costume wigs to be found that aren't made in China. I'm running out of time and getting nervous.

reduce REUSE recycle

The reusing part of the Reduce Reuse Recycle mantra seems to be similarly forgotten. While riding my bicycle through Newport Beach I noticed a lot of furniture in the trash waiting to be picked up. A small bench, a stool, a coffee table. All in good shape, too. These things could have been donated to Goodwill or a similar entity or sold in a garage sale! A few years ago I found a large round coffee table sitting next to the trash bin outside of an apartment complex near where I lived in Philadelphia. It was in perfect condition but didn't fit my eclectic style. But I dragged it home and covered its surface with a mosaic of tiles, including 4 ceramic coasters I bought at a garage sale. The results were stunning. So now this piece of art sits in my front yard where we enjoy sitting around it drinking a beer or glass of wine.

Reusing items also keeps them out of the waste stream, where they need to be picked up from the trash and hauled to a landfill, which costs energy, money and space. Reusing also prevents the need to expend energy and money on the recycling process. It also prevents the need for a similar product to be manufactured (in a place such as China).



What happens to the stuff we toss out? Amazingly, a lot of it ends up in the ocean. Marine researchers Charles Moore and Marcus Eriksen were on their boat about 700 miles north of Hawaii in January and found trash everywhere. They found a vortex of trash bigger than Australia, covering 10 million square miles. This plastic, which includes billions of very tiny scraps that float on the water's surface, can be mistaken for food by fish and birds and can kill them. ``No matter where we go, we find plastic,'' said Moore, 60. ``The ocean is now this plastic soup, and we just don't know what that's doing.'' They frequently find larger items such as potato chip bags, lighters and toothbrushes.



This is a site where kids can learn to make crafts with used items, such as an old toothbrush!
http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/earth-day/reusing-materials-make-new-crafts.html

Websites that encourage innovative reuse solutions:
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Tips/Reusing_Everyday_Materials/index.shtml
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/mar/12/practicaladvice
http://www.swaptree.com/WebFrmLandingPage.aspx?promotioncode=GOOG_FreeCyX&gclid=CL60komXp5YCFQJNagodLBS7xg
http://homeparents.about.com/od/recycle/Recycling_and_Reusing_Tips.htm

Let's keep this from happening:

REDUCE reuse recycle

I have not written in a while partly because I have been reducing the amount of products that I buy. A recent purchase I made was calendars for my business to give to patients and business associates at Christmas. I emailed National Pen company and they quickly responded that the calendars I ordered were indeed made in the USA. I also bought some thank you notes at the airport - made in the USA. In general, however, I simply am not going to Target to meander down the aisles and find bargains. I am buying only what I need. That is a very important part of the Reduce Reuse Recycle mantra. We are all about recycling and many cities force us to recycle but the harder thing to do is to decrease the amount of goods we purchase. Shopping for many of us is an addiction, whether we realize it or not. Try NOT shopping for 2 weeks and see how you feel. It probably won't feel good, I can tell you. If you've ever been on a diet or tried to quit smoking, you'll recognize the feeling of having to give up something you crave.

Over the past 35 years, the amount of trash has increased per person from 2.7 pounds/day to 4.4 pounds/day. Buying less things means less packaging for those things and less paper or plastic bags they are put into. Also less natural resources (trees, oil, etc.) are used that go into making the products. If you must buy something, then purchase products that are durable and long lasting, unlike many things made in China. Buy whole foods that do not come in packages, like fresh fruits, vegetables and bulk grains. Buy in bulk. Or don't buy at all.



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Fire and Light

I was told by the fire inspector that I needed a new fire extinguisher for our medical office. Went to Lowes and they had only one brand, Kidde. I was nervous. Made in Mexico. Whew! Then I went to lightbulbs to get a little 40 watt bulb for a lamp. I picked up a two pack of CFLs, happy they came in 40 watt with that tiny base. As I strode to the register, I flipped over the package - arg - made in China. None of the 40 watt CFLs were made outside of China. GE Reveal and Sylvania double life bulbs, also made in China. Sylvania did have a non CFL globe-shaped bulb that will fortunately fit my lamp and was made in Thailand. I only spent an extra 3 or 4 minutes looking for a lightbulb, which was good, as I was coming home late from a McCain Rally and was tired. Go McCain/Palen! (Sorry - I'm still jazzed from Palens speech the other day!)

If you like dogs at all, join the boycott.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here's 7000 words.









"Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity." (Shaw)

My favorite clothing store

A couple years ago I found a store, Coldwater Creek, that makes clothes that fit me perfectly. The clothes are stylish but conservative, perfect for my job as a physician. I can order online and know how everything will fit. I checked some of my clothes at home that I ordered from them in the past - made in China. I called them today and asked if any of their products are not made in China. The customer service agent, in a somber voice befitting a funeral home director, said that she was sorry, all of their products are made in China. OK, so it will be harder now to have to go out to actual physical stores to look at labels and try on clothes before I buy them. I'll probably save a lot of money because it won't just take a credit card a click of a button to buy new clothes!

As for some good news... May Wah Healthy Vegetarian Foods at www.vegieworld.com is a place where I can order all kinds of wonderful faux meat products - roast duck, ribs, kung pao chicken, chicken wings, tuna, prawns - most of which are excellent. Almost everything on the label is written in Chinese, which had me gravely concerned that I was going to lose my favorite place for buying fake meat. I looked at several packages that were in my freezer - yippee, made in Taiwan!

Finding Clothes

I had to buy some clothes for an upcoming performance of our band, Total Unity. Stopped at a couple clothing stores that cater to teenagers, both in style and price. They happened to have the kind of rock star styles we were looking for - and all 10 items we tried on were made in the USA! Unfortunately, my favorite bra brand that I have been buying for at least 15 years, Victoria Secret, is made in China. That has me quite upset.

I had to buy some clothes for an upcoming performance of our band, Total Unity. Stopped at a couple clothing stores that cater to teenagers, both in style and price. They happened to have the kind of rock star styles we were looking for - and all 10 items we tried on were made in the USA!

cheeses and beads

 Of the 100 best cheeses in Wine Spectator, NONE of them are from China.  On a slightly more practical note, I was out today trying to find silver jewelry components and I stopped at a local place called Via Murano. I was pleased to find out that their products are made in the USA and that they feel my sentiments about avoiding purchasing from China.

Coal Problems

For the 1.3 billion people in China to attain US-like consumerism and affluence,  it would take the resources of a whole other planet Earth, according a report by Bob Woodruff of ABC.  I do not begrudge the Chinese people having these things that make life easier but I do not like the way the Chinese government is going about attaining it for their people.

Every 7 to 10 days, a new coal-fueled plant opens in China. These coal-based factories produce enormous amount of sulfur dioxide which leads to global warming, acid rain, poisoned crops and lakes and premature human deaths and is not just affecting the Chinese!  Microscopic particles from a pollution cloud drifting over from China were recently detected in California, Oregon and Washington.

About 60% of China's electricity comes from coal.  The US, on the other hand, has only 23% of its energy derived from coal. While the Chinese government has promised to install sulfur filters on every power plant to remove up to 95% of the sulfur by 2010, their last promise in 2002, which was to cut these emissions 10% by 2005, not only did not come to fruition but ultimately emissions rose by 27%!

Part of the problem also stems from Chinese exports and not just providing for their own citizens.  Up to 33% of their energy production may be attributed to supplying Westerners with goods.  So the more "stuff" we demand, the more China will produce and the more energy they need to produce it.  It is a vicious cycle and our addiction to having inexpensive "stuff" - toys, clothes, furniture, bedding, etc. only feed the pollution monster that is China.

Day 1 - CVS

I went to CVS to pick up a little notebook for keeping track of milage while in the car.  The first notebook I picked, the less expensive CVS brand - bingo! Made in the USA!  I thought for a brief moment, maybe this won't be so hard!  Then I looked around me at other items that I didn't currently need.  I randomly picked baby bottles and nipples by Playtex, thinking that I wouldn't want any kid of mine sucking on plastic that contains God knows what contaminates from China.  Made in the USA!   As I looked at more of the Playtex items, I then noted some made in China. OK, so I guess choosing a single brand may not be so easy. 

No "Made in China" for 1 year

For the next 365 days, I will be boycotting products made in China.  This has been attempted before - but not well and not wholeheartedly.  The last couple articles I read in the newspaper about women boycotting products made in China were, frankly,  pathetic.  They start with a fatalistic attitude and go on to say repeatedly that they accidentally ordered a product made in China or forgot to check where the product was made.  I plan on checking every single item - otherwise, why bother?

Why am I doing this?  I do not want to support an oppressive communist regime.  I do not want to support a nation that will execute the head of their FDA, even though Mr. Zheng was accepting bribes and producing products that are fatal to humans and animals.  I do not want to support a country that produces products fatal to humans and animals.  I do not want to support a country that doesn't have a free press or freedom of religion.  I do not want to support a country that is rounding up and killing dogs to make the streets cleaner and prettier for the Olympics.  Every product you and I buy from China is supporting these things. 

Can one go a week, a month or a year without supporting China's economy?  Is the US so very dependent on Chinsese goods that it cannot be done? I don't know.  Over the next year, however,  I will be sharing my experiences while shopping, sharing advice where to buy products made outside of China and, when not shopping, sharing information about China's economic link with the US and the threats they pose to both US citizens and their own citizens.