I do not usually make resolutions but this year, 2021, I decided to give myself a challenge. Plymouth Cards makes and sells Made in the USA products. However, in my personal life, I thought I was doing this as well until I really started reading product packaging and tags. I was surprised to learn where things were made. Therefore for 2021, I am going to exhaust all efforts to purchase Made in the USA products for ALL my purchases and thought I would post my successes and failures (hopefully not too many) every month.

Hits:

Dryer balls - Our dryer takes two cycles to dry my clothes…I may be overloading it. It doesn’t happen to Vinny so I wanted to find a solution. In my research, I read about the benefits of dryer balls not only helping to dry clothes faster but to also act as a dryer sheet (which I have never used). My initial search found all non-USA made dryer balls so I headed over to Etsy. There I found a highly-rated company, A Little Green Bee Shop. They make and sell dryer balls that are “handcrafted in America from domestic sheep fleece and come in the variety of sizes, colors and designs.”.I purchased their large set of 8 and they arrived quickly. After using them here is what I have found, they do decrease the dryer time a little but they also somehow pull-out drawstrings. If you have clothing with drawstrings, I suggest tying them tight before using the dryer balls or skip the dryer balls with this type of clothing.

Dishwasher detergent tablets - After looking at the product packaging as well as the company website, I could not find where the Cascade Platinum tablets, I love were made. I ended up calling the company and was told they are made in their St. Louis plant, phew!! Lesson learned, I really always thought if the product did not come out and say “Made in the USA” that it wasn’t made in the United States. For this challenge, I did not want to assume so I have been making calls and writing emails.

Facial rounds – What are these you ask? They are a replacement for cotton balls. I try to be eco-friendly in all my purchases. I accidentally used my white facial rounds to take off mascara and even though I have washed them, they still look dirty. I love ones from Marley’s Monsters, based in Eugene OR. This is a great company started by a mom on a mission to reduce waste and save money.

Misses:

T-shirts – If you don’t already know, I wear t-shirts every day. While surfing the net, I found a few super cute t-shirts with inspirational messages that spoke to me with the added bonus of being sold by small businesses. Before buying, I checked and they were not made in the US. Big bummer!! I decided to not make the purchases to be true to the project. Hopefully I will find some made in the USA t-shirts in February.

I’ll report back again in March with my February hits and misses. Thanks for reading along. And if you have any great Made in the USA (bonus points if eco-friendly too), comment below so I can check them out.

 ~ Lisa, PlymouthCards.com 

All opinions are my own and I really use these products. I was not compensated by any company. They don’t even know I am writing about them.