Buying ‘Made in America’ boosts the eco-nomy
October 11th, 2011
If you haven’t been following the “Made in America” series from ABC World News, it’s definitely worth a watch (and check out the interactive map, above). Last night’s show featured a home in Bozeman, MT, that was built entirely from American-made materials — right down to its custom-made J bolts.
The builder, Anders Lewendal, is also an economist; he believes that if every builder in the country used just 5 percent more American materials, we’d have 220,000 more jobs.
Is it a coincidence that the word economy also contains the word eco? By buying American-made, you’re also, as a general rule, making the greener choice, since you’re avoiding the extra fuel expense to ship those foreign-made goods halfway around the globe.
In some cases, you’re also minimizing waste; David Muir noted in the report last night that American-made nails clog the nail gun less frequently than the China-made ones.
Only 50 years ago, foreign goods comprised a mere 8 percent of Americans’ purchases. Today, nearly 60 percent of everything we buy is imported. To buy American costs more in many cases, yes, but I see the extra expense almost like tithing — whatever you give will come back to us ten-fold.
–Jennifer Grayson
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October 21st, 2011 at 8:40 pm
I wish I had known about this series earlier! I don’t often watch TV I haven’t already DVRd so I can miss things I want to see like this by skipping all those ads!
I have found that by simply shopping at Kmart vs. Walmart (not much else avaliable in my smallish town in close distance) I am able to find many more made in the USA products (I try to keep money local, rather than ordering and shipping individually – it’s always a toss up about what to do!)
If everyone who ever complained about nothing being made here would actually work harder to seek out and pay for the products that would make a world of difference, like the article notes, 5% is a big impact nationally!
October 23rd, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Interesting that you find more American-made products at Kmart instead of Walmart. At the Kmart near me, it seems like everything is made in China–