Not Made in China

Some time ago I sat down in a Borders bookstore and browsed through a book titled “A Year Without “Made in China”: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy" by journalist Sara Bonjiorni. I found the book a bit disappointing because she still bought cheap, sweatshop-produced products from other countries such as Thailand and Vietnam which are mainly produced in Chinese owned factories. The only lesson she had in the entire book was that the money she saved from not buying cheap Chinese goods meant she had enough at the end of the year to buy quality goods but less.

When I mentioned this to a friend she said that she did not think that anyone could survive without buying goods from China; a challenge was issued! I have spent the last eight months seeing how I could do. So without beleaguering the issue I bought clothes from: Italy, Scotland, USA and Canada. I did buy one skirt, jacket and two pairs of jeans that were made in China. I bought wonderful shoes made in Spain and boots from Canada, socks made in USA/Italy. I bought bedding from Turkey, Pakistan, and Canada. I bought household goods from Germany and USA and miscellaneous items such as pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, notebooks all made in Germany or the EU. I would say it definitely can be done you just have to be willing to pay for design and quality, and fair labor rates for the folks who made the goods that you purchased.