Gunnar’s Coat

Posted by Valerie on March 2, 2009

My baby boy is two today. The zipper on his winter coat is broken, and we still have several weeks before he’ll be done with it, so we went out to Goodwill to see if we could find a replacement. There weren’t any coats for babies, toddlers or preschoolers. There were far fewer donated toys than we usually see, and  the quantity of clothing for children has obviously, dramatically dropped.

I asked to speak to the manager and asked what they are doing about ”the lead law.” I was told that they had decided to pull all clothing with zippers, buttons, or embellishment on the front, especially near the neck. They’d decided not to pull all the clothes, but anything with zippers, buttons, or decorations that could be brought to a child’s mouth was being discarded. And, the children’s clothing that they do have out is very plain.

They’ve also pulled every children’s product made of any kind of plastic, except the big riding toys, which are just as likely to be illegal but a lot less likely to be sucked on, and they were trying to apply some kind of common sense to a regulation that is burdening them and their community.

I asked them about books, but they didn’t know that CPSIA has any application to books.

I was thinking of going further to look for a little coat, but the workers at Goodwill told me that they’d heard that the Salvation Army store in town has removed all children’s products of every kind. It’s much further, and it was nearly time to get lunch for my kids, so I didn’t check for myself.

I say, why put a coat on a little boy to keep his tummy warm when the landfill has so much room?