My Newest Kick!

Those who know me well know that I tend to get on certain "kicks" that can last anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months.

For example, a few months ago, I was determined to prove that cell phones were not an essential item and that we could save money by just using a land line. This idea lasted for a matter of weeks....and then I discovered that you cannot even find a pay phone anywhere anymore!

Another kick I got on was cloth diapering. For 6 months, Daniel was a cloth diapered baby. I even bought all newborn cloth diapers for Mann's arrival. And then all of my family and friends went out and bought a years worth of disposable diapers for Mann, and I took this as a polite reminder that while I was on the cloth diapering bandwagon, they were not. Plus shortly after having Mann, I went back to work and cloth diapering is not really feasible for a working mom.

So, what's the newest kick, you ask?! Buying American!!!

This week, in my Texas History class, we were talking about how the Mexican government put tariffs on all American goods coming into Texas so that the Texan settlers would buy Mexican goods instead. In every single class, I would have a student raise his or her hand and we would have a conversation that went something like this:

Student: "What about the goods coming from China?"

Mrs. Scott: "Well, while there was some trade with China during the 1830s, most of the Texas settlers wanted to get their goods from the United States."

Student: "But why? All of the good stuff is made in China."

So, after having this conversation 7 times in one day, the next day I decided to do a little activity. I challenged the students to find 1 article of clothing they were wearing that was made in the US. I had several students jump up proudly, sporting their "American Eagle" hoodies and "Under Armor" shirts, saying "Mine is made here!!!" (without checking the tags, of course.) It was honestly amusing to watch their little faces when they discovered that their "American" attire was made in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Out of 150 students, I had 8 total that could find an article of clothing made in the USA. That's 5% of my students.

A little more research on my part, and I discovered that 97% of our apparel is made in a foreign country. So, actually my students were doing better than I might have expected.

I am not pointing the finger at all. My shirt that day was from Vietnam, my pants from China, my shoes from Italy. But I did proudly wear a necklace and earrings that were my mother's and had both been made by Native Americans in New Mexico. You don't get more "American" than that! Haha!

So, now I am checking labels and doing my part to try and keep some of our money in the US!

I found this neat website I wanted to share that has a directory of American made products. It is:

http://americansworking.com/

As I do some more research, I will continue to share my findings...that is, until I get wrapped up on a new kick! ;)