Want to buy holiday gifts that don't make you feel guilty about the oppressive conditions they were manufactured under, but don't know where to start? Here are some tips and links to help.
Maybe the most important piece of advice comes from Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing and a man about as enthusiastic about American-made goods as you could hope to find, and coauthor Alex Bogusky:
Don't drive yourself crazy. Trying to buy exclusively Made in America gifts is virtually impossible. Just think about doing a little better this year than you may have done in the past. Start with just one more gift. [...]
But if each of us purchased one additional American-made gift this year, that alone would support somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 to 200,000 new jobs. We'd be able to tell Congress: If we can do it, you can pass policies to support American manufacturing too.
The core of that advice—don't think you have to be 100 percent perfect or you'll go nuts—applies to any reduced-guilt shopping, on the environmental or feminist fronts as much as for labor. As Jen Sorensen
made very funny in a recent comic, too often the gift that does some good in two ways is bad in another.
Buying second-hand is a good way to sidestep a whole lot of issues: you're reusing goods, and they're a step removed from problematic labor practices. (You'll want to steer clear of the Salvation Army and Goodwill for various reasons, though.) Second-hand can be beautiful and there's plenty of stuff that won't leave your loved ones thinking you were pawing through the bargain bins—vintage jewelry is amazing, for instance.
Going small, local, and/or artisanal is another good strategy. Maybe the person who made that lovely vase or inlaid box is a Republican, but chances are he or she is not a big political force for the worse. Hit up craft fairs, Etsy, and, of course, the Kos Katalogue.
But if you want to buy new and big brand, come below the fold for resources on how to make the most of it while keeping your cool.
If you're looking to buy American, check out:
- Labor 411: From snack foods to children's games to home goods, find products that are not only American-made but union-made.
- Some stores or brands—like The Container Store, REI, Nordstrom, New Balance, and a surprisingly long list of others allow you to specifically look for U.S.-made products.
- A Continuous Lean has compiled The American List; the author writes that one "motivating factor is my desire for things Made in the USA to be embraced by a younger, more stylish consumer." Think bamboo laptop cases, leather bags, bow ties, slim-cut three-piece suits, premium denim, and boots.
- The Alliance for American Manufacturing has a list with a gift idea from every state.
- Think books. Many books are printed in the U.S.; unfortunately that doesn't necessarily mean their paper was made here, but printing is a good start.
- If you're getting into that new domesticity I keep reading about, Ball canning jars are made in the U.S. Take a few of those, fill them with preserves, pickles, or brandied cherries—ideally starting with local fruits and vegetables, mind you—and voilà, fabulous gift.
If you're shopping for clothes and American-made just isn't going to happen (which will often be true), but you'd like some reason to believe that hundreds of workers won't die in fires and building collapses in Bangladesh to clothe you or your loved ones, Dana Liebelson has assembled a list of resources like which companies have signed on to the binding safety accord for Bangladesh or what Fair Trade USA says about different companies' supply chains.