NOT made in China

Leading on from my previous post about Christmas, I started thinking about “present sense” and how I am going to try as hard as I can to avoid buying things that are “Made in China”. An impossible task, you may think, but it is possible. I am trying desperately not to contribute to the onslaught of cheap and tacky Chinese-made goods, and aim to buy things that are made in Europe. At least they have travelled less to get to the shop, and they may be slightly less environmentally harmful due to having been made to last longer and with better, safer materials. I have recently found lovely toys made in Denmark (hoorah for Lego), Germany and England, and the quality is also so much better. My small town in Spain is full of Chinese bazaars, little shops where everything costs virtually nothing but at the same time costs the earth… My son loves them but everything that has ever been bought for him in these shops (by a well-meaning neighbour) ends up breaking within a matter of hours or days.

A friend of mine from Australia, who is an ardent environmentalist and refuses to fly (she aims to leave a zero carbon footprint, admirable stuff; more on her another time), travelled across Asia by bicycle to get to Europe, and told me about the factory towns in China. She said it was like a vision of hell…

So, if you care just a little bit about the environment, take a look at the label and buy carefully. I’m not naive, I know it isn’t a cure for all environmental ills, no single action is, but each small step we all take may contribute to preserving our planet.