remember my previous post here? well, here is a much more intelligent take - pulled an article from carl pope of sierra club (march/april 2008):
"It used to be that when I saw a Mattel toy, I presumed that Mattel made the toy in a factory the company built and manages, with workers it hired and supervises, and that it would not be so crass or dumb as to save a fraction of a penny on a $30 toy by using lead paint. But Mattel and other businesses know something they are not willing to tell us: In today's globalized economy, top companies have lost control of the quality of the goods that display their logos. They are powerless to prevent a recurrence of the toxic-toy tragedy--and they are terrified that their brands could be dragged through the mud when the next epidemic of dangerous products strikes.
The problem is not China. The problem is a business model in which companies outsource manufacturing under short-term, low-cost contracts to the firm that will follow their design standards most cheaply. All that is really Fisher-Price about Dora the Explorer is the design--the product itself is made in a factory over which the company has almost no control. It doesn't manage the working conditions, environmental standards, or safety practices. As a result, it no longer controls the product itself...
...we're paying for high-priced marketing and design combined with low-wage, exploited workers producing inferior products using shoddy safety and environmental standards. Often we have no choice--we can't find products made under decent conditions by the companies that market them. Yet as long as we allow this business model to continue, we are complicit in a system whose ineluctable outcome is the poisoning of our children."
please take time to read the whole article here.
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my email to carl is as follows:
"...having spent several years of my career in apparel design and product development, and have found it very disappointing that most companies are happy to cut corners on research and product testing to save time and a few dollars. Few companies are so incompetent as to be unaware of the potential hazards of their products, and the consequences – many simply don’t care. Mislabeling (with false, misleading, or incorrect information), chemical hazards, and unethical practices are too often covered-up by clever marketing. When/if these companies are caught with their mistakes, they plead innocence and ignorance when it is the company’s responsibility to be well versed in all safety and quality issues, and enforce their standards from product sampling through to post production. There are many resources that provide thorough product testing and are current with all required standards for each country of distribution. Unless the governments make these test mandatory (and perhaps subsidize testing to reduce cost for the companies), and enforce standards with heavier penalties, companies will continue to take short cuts – solely to generate more profit.
Companies need to take a more pro-active approach to this problem, and save themselves time and money in the long run by not having to look for loop-holes and means to conceal these errors, and risk damaging their reputations."
i'd love to hear some feedback from you.
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eating: melange of cereals
listening: the sounds of a living breathing house
anticipating: warm bed and snuggles, sleeping in and vegan pancakes breakfast, playing outside
p.
xo
not quite as lovely as real life - but you get the idea...
