I was blown away to find out about this new governmental program that is going into effect on February 10, 2009. ..
“Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month [Feb. 10] could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children’s clothing.”
Read the rest of the L.A. Times article, “New safety rules for children’s clothes have stores in a fit”
Starting on February 10, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act goes into effect. A major part of this program is the mandate that everything sold for children 12 and younger will have to be tested for lead and phthalates. Anything that isn’t tested or that fails the test will be considered hazardous and cannot be sold.
This directly effects anything children that is second hand, especially clothes, and toys that were purchased before February 10, 2009. So, if you purchase items at garage sales, consignment shops or go to the big warehouse consignment sales for your little ones, you will now need to purchase everything new!
You will probably see most consignment shops that carry children’s items begin to close down. Apparently, there are a series of tests they have to run on each item that can cost upwards to $400 to test per item, which is not an option for any second-hand clothes or toys shops.
Read more about this here, here and here. You CAN do something about this: sign this petition to help small business owners or write to your local Congressman (this link has a letter template you can use) and ask that used clothes be left out of this program.
What are your thoughts about this? How much do you think this will impact your family?
Thanks for spreading the word! So many of our community’s churches and schools benefit from consignment sales–not to mention the profits from Thriftsmart and other stores.
I don’t think the gov’t will be able to touch yard sales, but I hate to think of all the donated items that will end up in the trash.
If you’re going to Blissdom in Nashville this Feb, please say hi! I’d love to meet you!
I posted this on facebook to help spread the word!