Maybe if i wasn't so lazy this would be easier

We are now into the second month buying only American made products that are also environmentally friendly. It is easier now is some aspects, as I now have some idea of what brands are ok to buy and which ones are not. But on the flip side, there are several things I now realize we are not going to be able to buy for a long time. And there is so much planning involved no more quick trips to just grab something at the store. For example, one of my favorite people in the world was here (Amanda Baranowski) and I decided to make stir-fry. I already had most of the stuff I needed, but did need some peppers and little baby corns. Due to laziness, I did not want to walk all the way to Whole Foods. So, I walked across the street to Giant instead. Well Giant, unlike Whole Foods who prides themselves on selling local items, prides themselves on selling only foreign items. Just about every produce item is from another country. Well, I got a green and red pepper from Mexico and baby corn from – god I don’t even remember now. But definitely not from the USA. Anyhow, the stir-fry was delicious.

Overall, buying American has gone alright. However, there are a couple issues. Example, we need batteries. You really can’t buy these used or American made. So, what are we suppose to do?? Any ideas? Second, we got a great printer from an awesome friend but it has no cord. Are we now required to look at it for the next 10 months, since all computer equipment comes from China? LOL Well, at least it looks nice. We also need a new blender, but I have yet to find one that is actually American Made. I believe Kitchen-Aid is American made but I just really don’t believe the website. Maybe I can order it and if it is not American made, simply send it back. Or keep forgetting to send it back and well after awhile you have to keep it right?

Even though, it has only been two month I have learned a lot. The biggest thing, well besides the obvious- that most things are not American made, is shopping American made requires a lot of time and energy. Energy and time that sometimes I do not have. Sometimes, I just want to walk into the store and just get whatever I want and not have to search around on the box to see where it comes from. I just brought Sara a present. Before I ordered it, since the website did not say where it was made, I called the company and asked. Lucky for her it was American made. Sara would be so proud.

Medicines, cheating, and homemade

Well, we are about a month into this American made adventure/nightmare. And we have cheated. Let me be more specific, Sara cheated. She blames it on being sick, on not meaning to. But she cheated. You may be wondering what she cheated on - medicines. No medicines are made in the US. I'm serious, absolutely none. Not a single one. Try to do a Google search. You can't find one. What is an American made buyer suppose to do? Well, the only thing to do is to switch to homeopathic medicines or never be sick again. When I was sick, I did this. Kind of - lots of hot, hot tea, ate slices of lemon (yes, ate the whole slice), and gargled with water and cayenne pepper. Oh and I cheated, I took some French medicines. But we were talking about Sara (Now Sara, would say I cheat every time I go to Starbucks, but we are not talking about my Starbucks addiction). She bought Aleve. Not only non-American, but made by a huge corporate villain - Procter & Gamble. Medicines are going to be a big problem. Anyone have any ideas of how to get around this? Tampons are also an issue, since Tampax is actually a part of the wonderful monopoly known as Procter & Gamble. Procter & Gamble also own Crest, Areil, Bounty, Charmin, Dawn, Downy, Duracell, Fusion, Gain, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Iams, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene, Tide, Febreze, Herbal Essences, Ivory, Scope, Luv, Mr. Clean, Vicks, and the list goes on and on. Basically, every brand name product from cleaners to hair care to medicine.

So, what in the world is a girl to do? Search Pinerest, of course. And now I am on the move to make everything homemade. Toothpaste, laundry detergent, shampoo, body wash, air fresheners. You name it. It is all there waiting to be discovered. I will be making it all. I have made the homemade toothpaste and laundry detergent and deodorant already. I believe, it is all working. I don’t smell as far as I know. Up next are dish washer detergent, air fresheners, and body wash. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Also, we discovered dried American made pasta from San Francisco. We can get it in a store in Georgetown, which is not the easiest place to get to without a car. The sacrifices we have to make to keep it American. We also learned no pet food is completely American made. All vitamins that are added to dog and cat food come from China. So even though the food is actually made here in the US by real live Americans, the stuff they are putting in the food is not from America. Oh well, at least we are providing jobs to American dog food cooks. Thanks to a friend, we went to the local dog food store knowing at least a couple brands that were made in America even if the vitamins that were added to it are from China. And lucky us the store carried both brands. I got the cat new food only to discover he prefers the dog food. LOL

Guess which item is American made?? Green, recycled, American made cutting board

Cat enjoying the dog's new food instead of his.

Target to China

I gave up Wal-mart years ago, because of all the reasons everyone says they are not going to shop at Wal-mart. And now when I need those items you just can't find at one of those cute little local stores or Whole Foods, I head to Target. Probably just as evil on some levels as Wal-mart. But it can't really be on the same level of evilness as Wal-mart, right? I mean, there are levels of corporate evilness correct? My better world shopping guide tells me I'm right. Wal-mart gets a F and Target gets a D+. IKEA gets a A-, too bad all that stuff comes from Sweden. Off I went to Target to pick up some random stuff. Going to Target is in the mall here, I rarely make the trip to Target so it is always an adventure within itself. First thing on the list was sheets. No luck what-so-ever. I swear to God I looked at every single package of sheets, none made here in the US. I got Indian sheets instead. Thanks India. Next, crock pot. Guess, where all crock pots are made?? Yep, China, China, China. So keeping with the stupid guidelines, I figured I would go to the thrift store and look. And until then no yummy slow cook meals. I'm now in the hair accessories aisle looking for hair tails. Once again, China holds the monoply on hair tails. I got one package of twevle, thinking maybe I can simply make these last for a whole year and not have to buy anymore. As I finish up my trip, I realize only 50% of the items in my basket are American made. Grrr. An American Made failure. I believe, the internet is going to become even more of my best friend than it already is.

On another note, this morning I had my first cup of Puerto Rican coffee. Sara and I ordered coffee from Puerto Rican and Hawaii. However, the coffee from Hawaii is not actually American Made. It does have some Kona coffee beans (which is for you non-American Made pioneers, those are the coffee beans grown in Hawaii), but the main ingredients is arabica coffee beans from around the world. Hmm, so that brand of coffee is out. I'm not sure how I felt about that first cup of American made coffee, it sure wasn't Starbucks. And now we are out of olive oil, which all comes from stupid olive trees in Italy or Spain or Greece. However, for the low price of $75.00 I can order olive oil from which is made in Texas from Texan and California olives. After the coffee incident, I'm not sure I trust these Texan olive oil markers. Maybe, I can give them a little call and verify it is all pure American olives, no foreigners are jumping into their olive bottles. On a happier note, Sara did discover pasta made right here in Silver Spring. So at least the pasta crisis has been avoided.

First attempt

So, today I went shopping for the first time with my new set of guidelines (even though typically we don't start until Sunday). I figured, I would go easy for the first run. Food - how hard could it be to find American Made food. Most food is made and grown in the USA, right? Well, yes. Most food is grown right here in the US. Vegetables, breads, dairy products. Fruits, well, fruits don't come from China - mostly Mexico. As I headed off to Whole Foods, I figured "This should be pretty easy. Food is American and Whole Foods is a pretty social responsible, environmentally friendly company. " I hadn't done any research, but did learn that coffee is not made in the US. Well, Puerto Rico grows coffee and so does Hawaii. We will be getting coffee mailed to us for the rest of our lives. I started shopping at 1:10 and ended at 2:38. Insane! But when you need to look at every item and search the bottom of every box and jar, it takes forever. So what did I learn. When it is American Made, the company broadcasts it. It is very easy to find. However, when it is not made in America, where it comes from is tiny. I mean, tiny - like I should bring out a magnify glass tiny. Or the company writes distributed in America, which means we stuff the crap in a box right here in the USA or maybe we slapped our American Made label on this jar of pasta but really everything was made somewhere else. Probably harvested by a four year and grown on a farm that the farmer gets paid 5 cent a day to run. But come on the label is made right here in American, doesn't that count. It concerned me a little that for some of the products I couldn't figure out where they were made at all.

Anyhow, what else did I learn. I learned that as I thought, most food is made in the US. Trying to buy food made in the US and from a company that received an A or B was a little difficult, but not too hard because I had been trying to buy from these companies for a little while. I was sad to learn that one of my favorite breakfast sausages was made in Canada and received a C in the Better World Shopping Guides. Boo-hoo

Soaps and toothpastes were difficult to find that fit all our criteria. I couldn't find body wash, so had to settle for bar soap. Grr. I think, this is going to be a trend. I'm just going to be giving up things left and right. I decided $8 for toothpaste is too much, so I'll make mine own. But I did find toothbrushes that were made from recycle yogurt cups and American made and not too much. Score me! No pasta is American Made. It all made in that f'in Italy country. God, you would think they invented pasta or something. So, maybe I'll figure out how to make that too. Any ideas?? No pasta sauce and diced tomato sported American Made labels, so I decided to just pick two. After research at home, I learned the company made products in both the US and Canada. Since, I can't find out where my can came from I'm just going to pretend it comes fro mthe American factory. Vegetables were easy as Whole Foods is nice enough to not only tell me where it was grown, but how far away it grows. My mushrooms were grown 216 miles from DC and my tomatoes 93. After glazing at the fruit section though, I decided I just didn't need any of it. Every sign told me it came from a warmer, tropical place. Next time, I'm somewhere warm and tropical I'll just fill up.

Surprisingly, it as hard to made veggie burgers and meat alternatives that were both environmentally friendly and American Made. Apparently, this things can not co-exist in the meatless products. Tofurky is made in Oregon, but gets a D. And Quorn products better rating but made in the United Kingdom.

Other fun facts - The French love meds, Italians love all things related to pasta, there is only one tofu made in the US, and we are going to have to stop drinking coffee.

All my American Grown Food No idea where it was made Imported

Can you really buy only American made products?

So, I know the answer to this question before even starting down this road. You cannot. Things that immediately come to mind that are going to be hard, if not impossible, to buy American are coffee, cell phones, computers, and well any type of electronics.

You may be thinking what is going on. Well, Sara and I (actually this is Sara's idea) have decided to try to buy only American Made items. As many of you already know, I also try to buy products from companies that are environmental friendly and social responsible. Keeping all these criteria in mind is going to make buying anything a challenge. Hmm I think, maybe I can buy all the products I want from Seventh Generation and Paul Newman. So I guess for 2012, I'm going to be eating a lot of salad and cleaning a lot. LOL.

Here are the guidelines we are going to try and follow:

1) First and foremost, buy from American companies that are also 'green' (i.e. Seventh Generation, Organic Valley)
2) We can't buy anything from the top 20 Corporate Villains (http://www.betterworldshopper.org/worst.html)
3) We will not pay an unreal amount for something just because it is American made and 'green'. In this case, we will either go without or buy from a country other than China.
4) We can buy used items that were original made in China. Our rationale is that someone already gave China the money, so we are not supporting China but the local thrift store.
5) Only buy from companies that received an A or B in the 'Better World Shopping Guide'.

Wish us luck!