Toys Buy Safe - Buy American

Over 90% of all the toys bought by Americas today are made in China. Human rights and labor laws that exist in the USA are not observed in China. Children are worked long hours and safety is not a concern. These conditions do not exist in American and would never be tolerated. So, why are we supporting these inhuman conditions by buying their products?

Now, we find out that besides being produced in sweatshops where children are forced to work long hours under conditions that would be illegal in this country the goods are not even safe to use. A large number of recalls have made us aware of toys covered with lead paint and other toxic chemicals. These toys have been produced and shipped to the USA for more than two decades. It is only logical to believe that these toys have always been substandard and unsafe and only now being realized.

What can we do to protect our children? Stop buying toys made in China. Stop buying toys from US companies that insist on using Chinese manufactures. If we stop buying these toys they will stop having them made in China.

Some US companies are already reassessing decisions to have toys made in China. Among theses companies are Toys "R" Us, MGA Entertainment Inc. and Wal-Mart to name a few. Just because the companies are based in the USA does not mean the toys are made in American. If this is important to you read the label look for made in American.

There are options for parents who want safe toys for their children. One great source for American made toys is the internet. Read the fine print, protect your children. Let's send these toys back to China. Buy American.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Hardgraves

Mattel Toy Recall - Wal-Mart Has A Social Responsibility

As a father of three small children I was outraged by the recent Mattel toy recall. All of the toys were made by a contract manufacturer in China. Mattel said Wednesday, August 15th, that it was recalling 1.5 million toys globally and the recall would cost them at least $30 million dollars. The toys that were recalled included many Sesame Street and Nickelodeon characters, including Dora The Explorer backpacks, which my 2 year old daughter plays with often. Also recalled was the ‘Sarge’ character Die-Cast car from the Disney Pixar Cars movie. The ‘Sarge’ car is said to have excess levels of lead surface paint that could harm children. My 5 year old son has this car.

My wife and I buy most, if not all, of our children’s toys at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is the largest toy seller in the United States, with an estimated 45% of the retail toy business. I am of the very strong opinion that Wal-Mart has a social and moral responsibility to do independent testing of products manufactured in China and sold in their stores. China is notorious for low regulations in terms of health and safety standards. If Wal-Mart wants to continue to be the largest retailer in the United States they would be well served to know a little more about the products they sell. It is becoming the norm recently to hear of poor quality products coming out of China. The Mattel toy recall is the most recent problem in a line of bad products. Recently it was tainted dog food and toothpaste that will make you sick, all produced in China.

When will consumers in the United States wake up and smell the lead paint? We are the only thing standing between Wal-Mart and dangerous products made in China. If Wal-Mart thinks it is to expensive to know more about the dangerous products coming out of China then consumers must stand up and demand this from Wal-Mart. This can easily be done by boycotting Wal-Mart until they take a harder stance on poor Chinese manufacturing. Do you think this stance is harsh? Ask a parent of one of the sick children if this is harsh. Or ask a pet owner who lost their family dog if this is an acceptable business practice. If this boycott were to occur, the greedy hands at Wal-Mart would have testers sucking on die-cast cars immediately! Believe me, we would all benefit from this.

© 2007, Kyle James

Kyle is the owner of an online coupon Web Site, Rather-Be-Shopping Online Coupons He lives in northern California with his wife and three children. You may contact him via e-mail at ratherbeshopping@sbcglobal.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kyle_James