Conscientious Consumerism
or…
where was it made and why does it matter?
Try as we might, most of us end up with stuff carrying this tag. As a buyer I’ve tried to avoid it, but sometimes even items I’m familiar with that didn’t use to come from China show up with the tag, if I ask I am often assured there isn’t a change over and it was just a temporary source. Add to this the idea that not everything that comes from other countries is made under questionable conditions. We tend to think highly of European items and Japan has risen to be thought of as a reputable source.
At one point I started discontinuing anything that I found a China tag on…
now I’m not certain that is a solution in itself having talked to a lot of people about the good and the bad of it and will continue to carry items made all over the world.
It seems almost all “costume items” (non-stocking-type things like gloves and petticoats) are only mass produced in China, causing even conscientious suppliers to send us Chinese items because they just can’t get them elsewhere.
So what’s a girl to do? I make an effort to add where its made to all new items, usually after the fiber content if it isn’t in the main description copy (for anything we’ve missed feel free to email us and we’ll check for you). We try hard to keep an eye out for changes in the warehouse & update the descriptions as needed
…not as easy as it sounds but we still try.
Any item that carries the Sock Dreams label absolutely must be made in the US or we won’t sell it. While I definitely favor US made socks and such there are a lot of great styles out there to be had so do your own research and make your own conclusions about what you do and do not want to purchase, here, there and everywhere…
whenever possible buy handmade & locally produced items
and buy as many socks from Sock Dreams as possible!
July 13th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I always think people in China have to eat too yaknow? Is boycotting buying chinese made products the answer? or does it end up hurting the people who are working to feed their families? Getting businesses to reform working conditions is the change that is needed, but just how we achieve that is the question. Has any economist yet drawn any conclusions if trade restrictions or boycotts are truly effective at changing conditions within the actual FACTORY? They’ll still be selling those same “made in china” products in China anyway, right?
I once saw an interview with someone who worked in a sweatshop and she laughed at our American arrogance that thinks the whole world should live by our American standards of life. She said she was very gratefull to have her job as she was making good money and could now feed her family which she could not do before.
Americans always forget that a country gets it’s strength through social revolutions from the people themselves which create change and make a strong country. If people don’t fight for their rights they get taken from them and then you end up with a redneck moran running the country for two terms. And they install cctv cameras every 20ft. on the street. Every time this subject comes up I try not to post cuz I have too much too say and really, who cares what I think? It’s arrogant to think I know anything about Chinese sweatshops unless I tour them personally and talk with the workers. so bye.
July 13th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
good post…
only lets not throw the term “redneck” in there as if all people that may fall under that term (or choose that category or how one defines one’s self, etc )are morans.
i still dont know enough to have made up my mind and will never know enough to judge an entire anything. i do prefer to choose american where possible because – well – i am an american. and the sock dreams brand i know i can trust to deliver quality. if another brand has always delivered quality and dependability & to the best of my abilities i know of it not being a bad company or whatever, then they are someone i buy from too, no matter where the company originates.
July 13th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Thank you both…
this is a very touchy subject that I have mentioned before and likely will again, I thought it an appropriate time to bring it up in full as I just added the new plus sized petticoats made in China and the Zurich pantyhose made in Taiwan this morning. And I didn’t want to pick on China by singling them out, they are merely the main one most think of when it comes to this matter and they have certainly been in the news most in recent years.
July 13th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I was actually listening to an interview on NPR a while back with Sara Bongiorni, author of A Year Without “Made in China”. Apparently it’s almost impossible to find baby shoes made anywhere other than China. I believe Bongiorni said she ended up having to buy a pair that cost a small fortune from a fancy Italian catalog. Inevitably, there were some things they just had to do without.
It seems unfortunate that it would actually come to a family going without some items to avoid buying from China. If anyone is interested in listening to the story, NPR.org still has it posted online: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12056295
July 13th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
With the economy the way it is currently I can see why people would want to purchase US made products more, kudos to them, I suppose.
I don’t know why but I do find it a bit offensive personally when it seems that specifically “Made in China” products seem to be the only ones that are targeted with this post.
Instead, why not make it more of a post promoting US made products only. Sockdreams.com carries socks from all over the world, Japan, Italy, perhaps even Turkey who happens to be one of the biggest producers of socks for the world. (Especially European markets.) I get the feeling sockdreams does not feel as strongly anti buy from those other countries as they do feel about China.
I have bought countless numbers of socks from Sock dreams… I believe my count from sock dreams alone is about between 80-100 pairs of socks. I have bought about 200 + from Turkey/ UK, and 100’s more from China. My fewest collection stem from Italy, Australia and Korea.
I see myself as a true sock lover. I even go as far as to find out exactly what type of machines are being used in the process, where the yarns are coming from, how the yarns are processed, what computer programs are used to make the sock, and how can one customize them.
In the end the consumers should be the ones to choose the product. It is a competition. Unfortunatly if the main angle of a product is where it is made, it can’t be that great of a product.
Therefore for myself, I will buy the best of best products no matter where they are made. If I buy something and I focus on it being made in the US, I think of it as more of a donation to my country’s economy, and I hope it helps take care of them. When I end up buying something from China or wherever else, its probably because I really like what I’m seeing.
BTW, there is a HUGE difference between American made and Chinese made socks. Socks from from Turkey and China are a lot more similar in quality…There is so much I can type about and tell you guys about, but this post isn’t about that….So perhaps some other time.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I posted and someone deleted it. =P
Hmmm, Not sure why, but not even getting a response makes me suspicious.
I made some valid points about anti “made in China ” products being the only ones noted, versus other products that you guys do sell from places like Japan and Italy.
Why the anti-China products? And yet the gushing over Italian or whatever OTHER country products you carry?
July 14th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Angelwings, your comment was not deleted, it was simply waiting to be moderated because you entered “Angelwingsrinoa” which the moderating system did not recognize as an approved commenter (it’s how we keep the spam out of here).
Why did I single out China? because it is the most pervasive country as I see it. It is the one country people write us inquiring about… “are any of your socks made in China?” So it seemed the appropriate one to discuss. Plus, I don’t find an overwhelming amount of stuff made anywhere else.
I followed that up by saying boycotting them was not the answer, we do have stuff made from there and tons of other places, it is indeed up to the consumer to decide, but how is one to decide when no one mentions where stuff is made and your left wondering until you have the item in your hands and can read the tag. And, for the record, I am equally wary of socks made in Mexico & Colombia.
There will be many more posts about our American made socks. It is a subject onto itself, one I have covered here before and will again, because we Americans need to make an effort to support Americans. I do not personally believe that means buying only American made stuff, but there are definitely people out there who do.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:44 am
First of all…I just want to say that I am not anti-anyone…I am just pro-US.
I try my best to find things made in USA even if I have to pay more for them. I might search the internet for weeks to find American made products. The main reason for this is that my family has been in the manufacturing business for over 40 years. We have seen most of the businesses in our area close because of imports. And I want to try to do my part in helping the businesses who are still alive in the US to stay that way.
I know this is a touchy subject and I may be wrong in my thinking but I too try to avoid things made in China. The main reason is because of the tainted pet food, the lead paint in children’s toys and other things. I know that the Chinese people need to work too…….but at what expense to American people?
July 14th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Exactly! as I said, I was not picking on China so much as bringing it up because that is the first one most of us think of and while I do not want a heated debate going here it is something we need to be open about, there are some people who feel very strongly about the subject. And since I do choose to sell Chinese items among Japanese, Italian, ect…. I felt it needed to be mentioned here that we are conscientious about it.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
My mom always says “I’m a citizen of the world”. I like that because it’s true. :) The quality issue is really what it’s about in the end for me. I noticed that the Hot Sox knee highs were made in USA and stayed up fabulously! While the Hot Sox thigh highs made in Korea didn’t stay up as well. I still bought all the colours in each length. SOCKS! Wheeeee!
July 14th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
oops I meant the HS OTKs are made in USA
July 14th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
The way I understand it, one of the other issues with buying Chinese goods is that we have a trade imbalance with China. We are buying their exports at a much faster rate than they are buying ours. It makes sense to stimulate our own economy as much as possible.
But what are we talking about here. Go socks! If I see a pair of 3-D panda socks on this website I’m certainly not going to check to see where the heck they’re made. I’m gonna buy ‘em and make sure I don’t lick ‘em anytime soon lest they be tainted ; )
July 14th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Talking imports I have now put up there with religion & politics. Very touchy.
I want to thank Sock Dreams for being aware, and responsible. I shop here knowing that Niqkita is doing her best to ensure that both her and our toes are warmed by socks made by some one paid a fair wage. So we all benefit.
I washed my niegos in the washing machine in cold water inside a lingerie bag. They did shrink. At first I thought I made a big mistake. However they recovered after a little wet stretching. The next time I will probably tie the lingerie bag so the socks don’t rub against each other so much in the wash. HAND WASHING THE RECOMMENDED METHOD.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:17 am
i’m really sick of this “China products=bad” mentality. when people come into my work and ask me “where is the section for stuff not made in China?” i want to punch them in the face.
most of the time, faulty products from China are DESIGNED that way by the AMERICAN companies. the factories in China are just DOING WHAT THEY WERE TOLD TO DO usually with the American company knowing full well that the product is flawed/toxic/etc. but assuming no one will notice. in the event that someone Does notice and a recall happens China is then used as the scapegoat.
public apologies from companies such as mattel usually go unnoticed, as it is too late and the damage to China’s reputation is already done http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/business/worldbusiness/22toys.html
July 15th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I know I am posing a question that probably cannont be answered in this forum…after all, we are here to talk about socks not politics–but I have always wondered–are people not wanting to buy Chinese goods because they think they are not quality goods or because of their human/animal rights stance?
It’s such a touchy issue–and it IS almost impossible to not buy things from China. I must admit, I did not really pay attention to where items were made until the pet food scandal–and then I was only concerend about pet food. It wasn’t until I started seeing documentaries about human rights (Darfur) and how animals are treated (everthing from endangered species, bushmeat, domesticated, and the fur industry) that I started questioning my buying policies–it wasn’t about quality at all.
It’s fairly easy to avoid animal products–but if I buy a cotton sock “Made in China” am I contributing to the problem? True, no aminal was hurt–but am I still inadvertently supporting a government who turns a blind eye to human/animal rights or am I helping out a poor person trying to make a better life?
I don’t know what the answer is–I guess you just do your best and hope you can help make a change–somehow.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I don’t see anything that niqkita said in her original post as “picking on” Chinese-made items. However, there is a difficulty in finding some items made elsewhere, and it does bring up humanitarian issues sometimes. I have listened to and spoken to sweatshop workers, and the ones who spoke to us were urging us to boycott a certain product/company in order to bring about changes in their policies. Whether or not this method is always effective, I can’t say for certain, but the power that we have in those situations lies in our spending habits. Voting with your wallet, as it were, does not mean that you are anti-China or that you feel the Chinese people (or Mexican people or Taiwanese people) made inferior products; it usually means that you either want to be certain to support American-made, that you have humanitarian/safety concerns with the involved country’s government, OR, now that the dollar is down, that you just want to get the most for your money! That being said, I agree that it’s up to the “consumer” to decide, but who is a bigger consumer than a company? We’re each consumers in our own rights, and Niqkita is making a decision to keep you an INFORMED consumer. She decides what to stock and wants to let you know where it came from and why she may have stocked it, in case you had any concerns. As a consumer myself, I appreciate this, and I understand the difficulty in making the choice between not stocking something at all or using questionably-sourced items. I use products from overseas in my garters, and even buying from American or even LOCAL companies certainly doesn’t guarantee American production or higher standards of quality. We each do what we can, and I applaud Niqkita for not only trying her best to help the world in which she lives, whether that means giving us cozy toes or making sure we have that perfect pair of affordable, if not American-made, fancy gloves for a costume party, but also making sure that we, her beloved customers, know what we’re getting when we purchase a product here. I appreciate the debate, and I ask each of you to do what YOU can to make your world the one in which you want to live, and minimize the negativity. It’s all we can do.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:39 am
if the country as a whole were to truly stop outsourcing their products on a mass scale most companies would likely go bankrupt.
people are always spouting off about how we need to boycott China but if that really were to happen on a mass scale the price of EVERYTHING would go WAY up.
it was the same thing with the gas alternatives- people saying we should use corn to produce gas. well more corn going towards gas=less going toward consumption. also now corn is considered more valuable as it is now worth more since it is being used for gas- thus farmers want to grow more corn, and LESS of everything else which means less of other foods/less grazing/less livestock= the cost of ALL food go up as a result.
and only now after all of this the humanitarians go “whoops we didnt know that would happen but our intentions were good so you can’t be mad at us”
July 15th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I appreciate the fact that Niqkita makes an effort to research this, think about it, and let us know so we can make up our own minds. Most business owners don’t go to this much effort.
So whether you agree with her reasoning or not, you have to respect her heart.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
oh definitely! Kudos to you Niqkita. It shows how much you care about your customers and that’s one more reason why sock-dreams is so wonderfull!
July 15th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Thank you! I was a bit reluctant to open this can of worms and with each comment have been wary someone would take it wrong or run the wrong way with it and have been really quite pleased at the diversity and relative tact of the feedback.
BTW Michael Pollan’s book the Omnivore’s Dilemma starts off with the history of corn, it’s affect on the farming industry, food as we know it today and the inherent effects on the US. If only I could stay focused on reading I’d finish that book, and his next one. The Botany of Desire came out while I worked at the cookbook store and was a must read for all of us there. Thankfully we were allowed to read books we sold at work, something I simply don’t have time for these days and miss. Not that I’m complaining about wearing, testing and taking picture of socks all day ~=D
July 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I only buy products marked “Made On Earth”, mostly because of the massive export duties.
Relax, kick your shoes off, and bask in the knowledge that the socks you are wearing comes from a company that cares about you. And the world.
But mostly, you.
I can say this, because I am lucky enough to be surrounded by the Sock Dreamers who work here, and witness firsthand how far each and every one goes to make any individual customer happy.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Personally, I try to avoid products made in certain countries for several reasons. 1) is yes, quality. 2) is the fact many (not all, but yes many) of these products are made in sweatshop environments. By buying them you aren’t supporting the poor people working to making them, you are supporting corruption and slavery. 3) Fuel costs. Something everyone needs to start being more aware of. No, not everything can be made locally/within our native countries, but I think the whole world needs to start rethinking the way we do business and realize just how incredibly wasteful our importing/exporting practices often are.
Of course, just because something says it is made in America doesn’t necessarily mean it was really made in the US — as the controversy over the Marianas Islands proved a few years ago (google it if you’ve never heard about it …).
By the way, if you do need to buy items made outside of the US, it’s a good thing to look for items made in Cambodia. It’s not widely known, but Cambodia has extremely strict labor laws which were developed decades ago with the intervention of the US. Their labor laws are in many ways stricter than Western ones. However, this increases the price of their products in comparison with those of neighboring Asian countries. So there are some factories in Cambodia which are breaking the law and operating in sweatshop conditions, but many do not. So I think it’s a good thing to support products made in this country.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Ah, there reason it’s probably coming off as an anti “made in china” post to some of us is because at the beginning of the post its a picture of a shoe with a “made in china” sticker.
The first line of the entry is :
“Try as we might, most of us end up with stuff carrying this tag. As a buyer I’ve tried to avoid it, but sometimes even items I’m familiar with that didn’t use to come from China show up with the tag, if I ask I am often assured there isn’t a change over and it was just a temporary source…”
That’s why.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:37 am
BHA! Bsti you’re funny! I think yours was the best reply yet. heee I needed that. :)))
July 17th, 2008 at 11:07 am
China does have a reputation of having negative work environments or humanitarian issues. But if you look at it, it all makes sense. It’s just a bit harder to understand being an American, whose standards of living are higher than just about anywhere else. It’s not fair, but they are working on it.
The U.S is a young country that was made for the people by the people ground up. It was people who left countries hoping to find something better right?
In order to establish themselves, took hundreds of years, gallons upon gallons of blood, sweat and hard work. For about 100 years or so, this country had slave labor as well as the citizens to help it get to where it is. And whether we want to admit it we still profit as a country from not so noble ways.
Seriously you can walk in Los Angeles and find a sweat shop. I see them when I go to school. The people seem content and okay with each other, I suppose where ever they came from, this must be better.
When I get on the freeway, and I see this stupid old man (yes I say stupid old man- it upsets me to see it…) with one leg, and a cup out asking for money, and I see people chasing trucks or begging to get hired to do home construction jobs….
People keep hiring them. Giving them money, supporting them. Getting clothes made, getting fruits and vegetables picked. <_< Inadvertently doing recycling for us because they’re trying to put there kids through college by going through the garbages and finding soda cans and bottles.
I guess, what I’m trying to say, if one would like to inspire people to support humanity through commerce then the US should be model, and targeted specifics are made when addressing such a worldly issue.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not all excited about Chinese products. But that label greeted with prejudice does not represent all companies in China.
They are still working on it. And the media makes the world so much more smaller so we can see exactly what is happening there and find out exactly who is doing what (and who is blaming who.)
I think the irony of this all is, is that Nikita wants just to inform us as consumers about all the products that Sockdreams carries, to be aware of exactly where they came from right?
BUT I doubt seriously, that if ANY of the products came from less than humanitarian or safety standard conditions (and were talking specifics, not targeting a country as a whole) , this site will not carry it, I doubt….. not matter how good it is.
As far as I’m concerned as a consumer, especially a SockDreams customer, I will buy your stuff. The only time I look where it comes from is if its priced unusually high, or if I know that there is a specialized technique used on them (micro fibers from Japan for instance.) Really I’m just trying to justify the price to myself.
So in the end, I probably wouldn’t have posted so much on something if I just didn’t feel it seemed unfair or incomplete to where it was unintentionally slanting an opinion (for lack of better terms…)..
This is a good throught provoking post. Socks are good for the mind. =P
July 17th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
The exact point was that it is greeted with much prejudice, and there is so much more to the issue to be considered. The great thing is this is my blog, my thoughts, you may not have done it and I may not chose to write about the same things you would and that doesn’t make either one of us right or wrong ~=D