DEL MAR, Calif.─"The toys from Christmas were still all over the living room floor. I started to look at where things were from, and I started to notice that most of them were made in China," said Sara Bongiorni, author of A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy.
"After looking around the room, I realized that that's the case for most of the things in our home," said Bongiorni at her book signing on July 26." It struck me as an interesting idea to see what would happen if we could go a whole year without buying anything made in China, and to see if it was even possible."
Fueled by curiosity, Bongiorni convinced her husband Kevin that a year-long made-in-China boycott would be an interesting experiment. She and her family began the test on January 1, 2005, agreeing not to buy anything made in China until New Year's Day 2006.
"The first thing we came across was buying new sneakers for our son. He only had one pair of shoes that he owned at the time, so I figured it was time to get him new ones," said Bongiorni. After weeks of checking labels without success, Bongiorni was finally able to find a pair of shoes for her son made in Italy.
With her and her family as the main characters of the book, Bongiorni humorously recounts her daily struggle to purchase only goods not made in China, turning simple activities such as finding a coffee maker or buying holiday decorations into sometimes unending searches. Her multiple ordeals to keep her husband, whom she dubbed "the weakest link," from sneaking in Chinese goods behind her back and coping with her 4-year-old son as he comes to realize that most toys are made in China, coupled with dealing with relatives and retail stores alike, allowed Bongiorni to provide a view of the global economy from the standpoint of an ordinary American family.
Ultimately there were exceptions to the boycott, such as gifts from others. Bongiorni said that most of their friends tried to avoid products made in China when giving them gifts. One exception that she laughingly recalled was the red sleeping bag her mother bought for her son, using a marker to change the "Made in China" label to "Made in Chile."
Despite the difficulties, Bongiorni said the experiment saved her and her family money.
"The reason was there were so many things we couldn't buy, so we had to keep our money in our wallet," said Bongiorni. "One thing that happened was we became a lot more thoughtful on the way we spent our money."
After finding that some products are simply not made outside of China, Bongiorni promised to take her two children to the store when the boycott ended on January 1, 2006 and allow them to purchase any three items they wanted at the store, without checking the labels. They bought a couple books and a stuffed animal. "I kept that part of the promise, but I have to say that later that day I did look at the labels. It was really a habit by then," said Bongiorni.
After receiving the first copy of the book, Bongiorni recounted that the first thing she did was check where it was printed. "I was relieved to see that it was printed in the United States of America. Let me tell you that I'm not clever enough to come up with a response if it had been printed in China," said Bongiorni jokingly.
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