Made in China or Not II

The experiment to go a full year without purchasing anything carrying the tag "Made in China" had its first full-on failure this weekend (see previous post), though I blame the need for expediency ...

Of course, the choice to go shopping ... shudder ... at K-mart (yes, there are a few of these left, including one within a mile of our house) pretty much set me up for failure. I needed a few items -- belt, white undershirt and black dressy shoes -- for a wedding that was taking place within 24 hours. I didn't have time to shop around, so after making a token gesture by going to our local mega-Goodwill store to score something cheap and used, and hence less consumerist, I trudged to the Big Box store.

I found a leather belt made in Mexico, while the package of three white shirts (but I only wanted one, dammit) was from somewhere in Central America. Then I tried on the shoes I wanted. Made in China. Damn. But that was OK, because there was a shoe store nearby, but the selection was crap and the one pair I considered buying was, of course, made in China.

Back to K-mart, where I grabbed the shoes and started toward the cash register. I froze about halfway, put the shoes back, and started to leave, then changed my mind and picked them up again. I agonized for five minutes or so, as if were planning on stealing them and not just in a quandary over my own self-inflicted rules.

On the positive side, the shoes, of course, were on sale. I'm sure the $25 I spent on them will turn out to be a wise investment that will last many years to come.

I wonder why the heel feels a little loose ...

Everything In Its Place

I've heard that expression before, but like "sleep tight" and "you gonna eat that," I'm not entirely sure what it means. But it came to mind the other day while I was in the kitchen, pondering what to do with a short stack of new (but previously owned) dishes we bought for a party. They were sitting on the counter, homeless and with few options of where to store them.

Normally, this is a job for the wife -- not because I'm sexist or misogynistic, but rarely am I granted the autonomy of deciding where to place a new object in our home unless it's something I specifically own. I apparently don't possess some sort of innate ability to discern the proper feng shui of inanimate objects on the common spaces and walls of the house. 

The disapproval and disagreements even involve drawers -- junk drawers. Every house has one or three of these long, overstuffed repositories of worthless batteries, 15 Allen wrenches that came with different products requiring some self-assembly, and stacks of stained take-out menus from the local eateries. My so-called junk drawer has maybe two menus in it -- and I have to be vigilant lest they end up in the recycling bin. 

Back to the party plates: I hesitated and fretted, wondering whether to simply call this one in to the proper authories. But, suddently feeling rebellious, I rearranged a few items on one shelf of mismatched cups, China and sake bottles, and slipped the plates in. Later, I casually mentioned where I had placed the plates to my significant other. She agreed that's where she had planned to put them as well. Job well done on my part, though already I could tell there was some concern that they were not quite in their proper place.

Wherever that is.

Made in China or Not

That was the name of my second blog, which I decided to abandoned because I felt it was a bit too narrow a topic to keep me going with material, particularly since I buy so few new things. However, I would like to occasionally return to the topic and pass on a few tips as I can.

The idea my wife and I came up with was to try and buy nothing "Made in China" for one year. How difficult is this to do? Go down the aisles in any store, especially those big box stores like K-Mart, and randomly pick up a product. A hundred to one says it was made from our generous lenders in China.

We didn't make this pledge out of any particular animosity for the Chinese, though most of these goods are generally of poor quality, in my opinion. That's why K-Mart sells so many items from there for so cheaply. But I've also come across the "Made in China" label on products sold by Patagonia! Based on that company's business ethics (and prices!), I would hope they pay a fair wage to their overseas employees. Nor are we committed to buying only things made in the USA. I'm not sure it would be possible to house, clothe and feed two people on such a stipulation.

One of the most difficult things I've tried to find to date was an insulated coffee mug. A trip to Target ended in utter defeat. Six shelves of coffee mugs of different shape and color, short and fat, stainless steel and plastic go-go colors -- all made in China! They did have a nice thermos made in Malaysia (probably by the Chinese Malaysians), but I was out of luck.

And don't think you can go to one of your local 15 Starbucks within a three-block radius -- all made in China. I turned to Amazon.com, purveyor of just about everything on the planet now. Unfortunately, the lengthy product listings don't mention country of origin, so I had to email a couple.

Finally, I came across a company I had never heard of before -- Zojirushi, which is based in Japan. Of course the products aren't made in Japan but Thailand. Still, it was a minor coup, as I can finally retire my South Pole "safety" mug at home that leaks and that holds heat about as well as the new station. So remember the name, Zojirushi. Not made in China.