TACOMA – People should continue to donate gently used clothes and household items to Goodwill in the face of a new federal law that goes into effect today.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act mandates new and used children’s products, such as toys and clothing, meet standards for lead and other compounds. Thrift stores such as Goodwill are exempt from testing but not from selling items that fail to meet the new standards.

“Our first priority is always the safety and well-being of the people we serve,” said Terry A. Hayes, Tacoma Goodwill CEO. “We are committed to ensuring that potentially dangerous items never make it to our store shelves.” As a result, Goodwill is targeting the removal of the following:

• Toys small enough for a young child to present a choking hazard or flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts;
• Infant and toddler clothing with rhinestone decorations or other appliqué;
• Children’s jewelry, charms or pendants, or accessories;
• Toys made of soft & flexible plastic;
• Painted metal or wooden toys;
• Dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes and noses that are not securely fastened.

Goodwill shoppers are urged to contact a store manager if they have concerns about a toy or children’s garment. Store managers keep a list of items the Consumer Products Safety Commission has recalled available for the public.

“We are using our judgment and trying to do our best to protect the safety of our customers,” Hayes said. The removal covers all 21 stores across Tacoma Goodwill’s service area, which includes all of the Olympic Peninsula except Kitsap County, south to Longview and east to Ellensburg and Yakima and portions of South King County.

Tacoma Goodwill Industries 714 S. 27th St. Tacoma, WA 98409 T 253.272.5166 F 253.627.1248 www.tacomagoodwill.org
Goodwill already doesn’t sell in its stores or accept at its donation sites infant/child car seats, swing sets or strollers, carriages and cribs.

Guidance sought
Tacoma Goodwill, along with other Goodwills across the country and a coalition including The Salvation Army, Volunteers of America and Society of St. Vincent de Paul, are seeing legislative guidance in following enactment the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Hayes, the Tacoma Goodwill CEO, said she was concerned the law was a “one-size-fits-all” mandate.

“It will create unintended negative consequences for the families that shop in our stores, our program participants and donors,” she said.

For Tacoma Goodwill, those negative consequences start with a nearly 9.2 percent impact of children’s clothes and toy sales on revenue used to support job-training and placement programs. Last year alone, Goodwill served more than 5,200 people across its 15-county service area.

For families, it could mean spending a lot more for new items. A child’s item that would cost about $20 new is sold for under $2.50 at a typical Goodwill store. Across the service area, it could mean a more than $20 million impact.

In 2008, donations children’s clothing and wares made up about 12 percent of that total, according to agency estimates. That could mean more of those items ending up in a landfill instead of being recycled or reused, Hayes noted.

Hayes said she is working with Goodwill’s across the country to talk about the impact of the new regulation on thrift stores with the commission and federal legislators.

“We are urging the commission and legislators work with us in a good-faith partnership to adopt common-sense solutions that demonstrate our commitment to the safety of families and children we serve while ensuring that community-based Goodwill’s are able to continue to provide critical services to people who need them most,” said Hayes.