Viscape loves travel and when something threatens our favorite industry, well, we just had to speak up! When you and your children travel, do you search of locally-made souvenirs and trinkets? Isn’t part of the fun of traveling bringing home locally inspired toys and trinkets?
If so, then hold tight to those precious and soon-to-be impossible to find tchotchkes, because Feb 10, 2009 the CPSIA, or Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, will go into effect and many handmade/ homemade items for the 12 and under crowd will be destroyed (yes, we said destroyed), unless, of course these super small businesses and sometimes one man shops pony up $300-$4,000 for the required CPSIA testing! And, folks, that is per item, not per company!
Think about your favorite destinations. This law is going to completely change the face of the tourism trinket and shopping industries. The local folks who make their living by selling original, one-of-a-kind toys for kids will be forced out of business or face huge fines!
Love the fun and glitz of Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras is for families, many of whom get all decked out in original masks, beads and costumes that are found all over Etsy or made by locals. If this law is implemented, you can say good-bye to those beads, those masks, those hats, and those costumes.
Mardi Gras won’t be the same without cute Etsy items like this!
Your flower girl won’t be wearing this Etsy dress if the CPSIA has it’s way!
How about Kauai or Maui? Don’t you love getting lei’d? And, really, what kid can leave paradise without choosing a homemade lei or painted coconut as a lasting memento?
It’s the same everywhere in the US, from
Cape Cod, to the
Outer Banks, to
Key West. They share one common attraction: locally made items, souvenirs and trinkets. From animals made of shells to hand-carved horses to silk-screened or embroidered clothing, children will be stuck with the same toys they could find at home while small businesses in tourist hot-spots will close by the thousands.
The CPSIA is a blow to the young and the young at heart (not to forget about an already struggling economy). Fortunately there is still time to act and plenty of places to read in greater detail about the law and the proposed changes to help keep kids safe — and locals in business. Check out
Ning,
Change.org,
Blissfully Domestic, and the
Handmade Toy Alliance for more information.
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