Not In My Cart!

All this lead paint and phthalates and what-not has me pretty wound up.  A mama can't even walk across her own family room without tripping over - or eating - something toxic.  And then Nancy Nord, director of the now infamous CPSC, goes and declines the additional funds Congress appropriated to beef up the agency's (pathetically inadequate) work.  Arggghh.  No thank you, Nancy - as I tell my kids (and they now tell me...).

As you know, CPSC has a serious case of the incredibly shrinking budget, at the very same time that imports from countries with lower standards skyrocket,  And even with the White House's very new proposal to fix things, I remain dubious (wonder why...).  So, since CPSC apparently ain't up to the job at hand, good thing there are other folks working on this stuff.  The Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, or OSPIRG, describes its consumer protection work like this:

We work to strengthen consumers' power in the market place, which is of continuing importance today in light of increasing corporate consolidation and the proliferation of special interest influence in government.

Hear hear.  And they're not the only organization working on our behalf, it turns out.  There's the Consumers Union (they publish Consumer Reports and have done additional product testing for lead), Union of Concerned Scientists, Consumer Federation of America.  But then, these groups aren't exactly new, yet we're in the trouble we're in.  Which brings me to a new kind of activism, one that builds on the good work of these groups but harnesses outrage. 

My personal fave, hands down, is: Not In My Cart.org.  Because that name about sums it up, mamas.   It's the Consumer Union's user-friendly site for product info and action.  They make it e-a-s-y to ask your Representatives in Congress to keep hazardous products out of the U.S.  They also track recalls and the news around recalls. It's worth a visit, mamas.

Plus, it just feels good to say it:  NOT IN MY CART.  NO THANK YOU :-) 

Comments

[lisa]

US PIRG also has a corporate challenge you can sign to request that toy makers voluntarily do better. Read more & take action here: http://www.uspirg.org/action/more-issues/challenge

[Lisa]

The most recent issue of Mothering mag (11/12-07) has an excellent review of safe toys called "Out of the Mouths of Babes." Unfortunately, they don't make articles avail online so you'll have to find a hard copy.