A Snap Decision, continued

After making the decision to not include the brass triggersnaps in the bags, I was then faced with having to do something with the 100 pieces I had.

I thought of the thrift store and would include the Prop. 65 warning - but for some reason, it just didn't feel right.  I guess if I'm including the warning, then it would be up to the buyer to heed that.  But still - that didn't sit quite right with me to dispose of them like that.
EBay occurred to me and if they shipped out-of-state, I wouldn't have to worry about the warning.  But no, that wasn't sitting well with me either.

My dilemma was not that I agreed or disagreed with California's strict regulations - it was my "soul" that it just didn't feel good.
So I thought I would check with returning them to the manufacturer.

I emailed Peter (the representative that I had been corresponding with about the Prop. 65 warning) and informed him that after giving it consideration, I had decided not to include them on my product.
I said that I was wondering if it was possible to return them for full or partial refund.
I also said that I had high regards for the company's customer support and his very quick responses to my questions and wondered if they had any similar product that didn't require the Prop. 65 warning.

His response came within a day and although we would not be able to return them because we had taken them out of the original packaging, the 2nd part of his email (below) put a smile on my face.  I thought that it might do the same for you.

"I can now make it out of a low lead brass which will be ok for cal but the delivery will be about 3 1/2 months.  Eventually we will be replacing our stock with the low lead but its going to take a year or two as i will need to use up all the items we have."

A Snap Decision

I wanted to add more value to my bags and thought that a key holder would be just the right element.
The "key" to this addition was that it would not add a lot more expense or production time to my bags because I did not want to pass a cost increase to my customers.


I knew that I didn't want plastic, so the web search was on to find an affordable, nice-looking attachment.

Voila! The Brass Triggersnap!

I could not have been more pleased.  I anxiously awaited the shipment of 100 to arrive so I could figure out how they would look in my bags and how I would attach them.

I decided to use the same "braided" t-shirt strips as I used for the button closures and sew it securely in the inside seam.

The box arrived and they were PERFECT!!!

Imitating a person that had discovered a treasure chest of gold, I ran my hands through the bag of brass pieces. I was so happy with the purchase and what it was going to add to my bags!

I pulled out the invoice and quickly glanced at it when something caught my eye -

California Proposition 65 Warning:

WARNING: THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS CHEMICALS KNOWN TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO CAUSE CANCER, OR BIRTH DEFECTS OR OTHER REPRODUCTIVE HARM.

What's that? 

I read it again. And again really slow.

Then I went to the sink and washed my hands.

I handed the invoice to my husband to read and then we both just stared at the box of "treasure".

We discussed what to do next.

The decision was to contact the seller and let them know what use I intended for the snaps and ask them what element of the snaps warranted the California Prop. 65 Warning.

They were very nice and prompt with the answer:

"Hi Christine

Re Cal Prop 65

California put in this law about chemicals and other material used in all items sold in Cal.  One of  the many items listed in the proposition is Lead.  Sand cast brass which was used to make the brass items contains lead that is over the California limited listed in in Proposition 65. All sand cast brass is currently over the limit.  So the majority of brass that you will see on products in Cal are over the Prop 65 limit.  We have been advsie that we should put this statement on ever shipment to California to inform the customer, if this is on your product then the customer has been advised and you are ok.  Hope this helps

You can find more info on Prop 65 on the internet.

We have not had any issues from our other California customers to date."

That's simple enough - all I have to do is add the warning to our product.  That seems easy. Customers are advised. I've full-filled my responsibility.

I'm going to tell my California customers, but should I tell all my customers? 

Should I add a warning on my website?

At this point, I'm not feeling at peace with all of this and the more important questions to me are:

Is this something that I want associated with my product?

Do I feel comfortable knowing that this could cause harm to someone?

Can I attach them in good conscience?

It was not a hard decision to make considering that adding the key holder took away from the original idea of my "recycled" bags and added an element that was not environment-friendly but most important - I was not peaceful passing this item that required a "warning" to any of my customers.

Tee-cycle Bags -- still environmental friendly.

Cheers.

http://www.tee-cycle-bags.com/

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