Book review: A Year without "Made in China"

~I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It made me be more aware of just how many things we have in the US that are imported from China...and how much "stuff" I can do without.

This family decided for one year to not buy anything new that was made in China....they would keep what they have, but not add any new purchases to it. There were, however, stipulations such as 'gifts'...that didn't "count"...ways to get around their self-imposed restrictions.

One of the things that stood out to me, was how much this family and many families in today's society consider shopping a 'family activity' or 'recreation'....I had forgotten until I read this book the lesson that I learned years ago when our finances were totally tight, not an extra penny left at payday.....I learned that if I didn't shop, I wouldn't spend. Simple concept, right? Well....with the advent of the internet, amazon.com and having anything you could want at your fingertips....you didn't have to leave the house to shop...that just made it even easier to spend money. It also made it easier not to know where your products origionated from. I couldn't look at the box or label and read "made in China" by ordering off of the internet.

One of the main ideas that I came away with from reading this book is (for our family) to go back to the "don't shop/don't spend" philosophy...and also to be very concious of the origen of our purchases and the value (and necessity) of what we purchase....

We've really committed to purchasing "re-purposed" clothing and necessities from thrift stores and from sharing with friends clothing and things that our children have outgrown. We are challanged to look at what we have and ask ourselves if we can "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"...as well as "what could we make this into?"....such as old t-shirts sewn into simple shopping bags...tablecloths re-made into bags or aprons.

I would recommend this book, if you need an eye opener as to the economics of importing from China....how American made is rare these days, and if you would like to be inspired to 're-purpose' and re-do in the good old American spirit of ingenuity! ~Sue~