Voice Gift Guide 2007

Dreaming of a green Christmas
Think global...Shop local!

Page 3
Safe toys and workers' rights

Potter Mary Giammatteo shows her handiwork at American Craft

A few doors down from Mark’s Kitchen you’ll find American Craft (7042 Carroll Ave, 301-270-3138). If supporting regional and North American artists and craftspeople is important to you and you missed the local craft fairs and alternative gift exchange, this is the place to go. Take note that owner Kathy Brooks stocks only safe, lead-free toys made in the United States.

According to the Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, toy recalls hit a record level in the U.S. this year. With nearly 80 percent of toys now made in China, recalls are affecting major manufacturers such as Mattel and Fisher-Price and some of the most popular toys, including Barbie accessories and Thomas the Tank Engine. Most recently, Aqua Dots were recalled after it was discovered that children who’d swallowed the small beads had been severely affected by a chemical that turns into date rape drug GHB when ingested.

Stories like these have left parents understandably focused on what toys are safe to purchase this holiday season.

Robert Pleasure, proprietor of Fair Day’s Play, provides an array of “fair trade” toys, games and sporting goods. Photo: Julie Wiatt

Fortunately area shoppers need look no farther than American Craft and its neighbor, Fair Day’s Play (7050 Carroll Ave, 301-270-4999). The brainchild of Robert Pleasure, Fair Day’s Play aims to provide fun, unusual, and top-quality sporting goods, apparel, and games, while at the same time educating shoppers about products that appear to be “good deals” largely because they’re made under sweatshop conditions and often with child labor. Its owner’s commitment is to find products produced in workplaces where workers have fundamental rights.

Manager Lisa Beth Ripkin points to Haba toys as one example. A German wood manufacturer, Haba makes high quality baby and children’s toys and games. It prides itself on providing social benefits to employees, treating its partners, suppliers, and competitors fairly, and to following green practices.

Ripkin, herself the mother of a young child, says that parents can count on their children coming out of Fair Day’s Play with safe, non-violent, kid-friendly products.

Toy Crafter, a small company in Rochester, New York supplies the store with wooden products, including tops and whistles. Channel Craft, of Charleroi, Pennsylvania, is the source of old-fashioned games and toys, such as marbles, checkers, yoyos, jump ropes, and tiddlywinks. Thames & Kosmos, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, partners with a German company, to make high quality science- and technology-related educational products for children of all ages. Meanwhile, Play Fair Trade Fair soccer balls are manufactured in Canada. And Chesapeake Thunder baseball bats are handcrafted in Easton, Maryland by Talbot Turnings.

As for apparel, athletic socks come from Wigwam, a small, Sheboygan, Wisconsin firm. No Sweat, a Boston company, offers hemp clothing and other 100 percent union-made items.

In the coming year, Ripkin looks forward to more in-store events. By the time this issue of the Voice appears, local storyteller Candace Wolf will have presented the first of what may become a series of story hours. Having recently added a section of books by local authors, Fair Day’s Play may also begin hosting readings for adults.

After leaving Fair Day’s Play, cross Carroll Avenue and pick up some coffee beans at the original Savory Café (7071 Carroll Ave, 301-270-2233). Roasted in Annapolis Junction, MD, by the Daily Roast Coffee Company, its beans are a global mix of fair trade, organic, and shade grown options.

Planning a menu? Head to the Takoma Park Silver Spring (TPSS) Co-op. Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, its two locations offer extensive selections of local produce, organic foods, bulk items, and health and beauty aids from socially responsible companies. (201 Ethan Allen Ave Takoma Park, MD, 301-891-2667, and 8309 Grubb Road, Silver Spring, 240-247-2667.) http://tpss.coop/

Saturday’s Farmers Market in Silver Spring and Sunday’s in Takoma Park, are other sources of fresh, locally grown produce, meats, and cheeses. Much is organic. All is produced by the farmers who sell it. The most beautiful wreaths are available here, too. Note that perishable foods are donated at the close of each market to Shepherds Table in downtown Silver Spring.

Next page: Looking out for our planet in downtown Silver Spring

Pages < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >

Fashionable Fair Trade 1	Eco-friendly producers 2	Safe toys & workers' rights 3	Planet Silver Spring 4
Don't get malled! 5	A women's boutique with a conscience 6	David Eisner and his House of Musical Traditions 7	Think independent business

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