I’ve been watching an on-going news segment on ABC Nightly News this week. They found a family in Texas who permitted ABC to go through all their possessions, checking to see what was made here in the USA, and what was foreign-made. Further, they permitted the news crew to then remove anything that was not made in the US. They literally emptied the house. They then had the more difficult task of refurnishing the house solely with US-produced goods.

This got me thinking… How many of the purchases at Eden Landscaping are solely American made? So I began a search, both of physical inventory, and mentally, going back over past purchases. I think we did substantially better than the family from Texas.

Our biggest machines, our mowers, are all produced by Exmark, and are all Made in the USA! I’m glad, because we are talking thousands of dollars here. Likewise our Ingersol-Rand Bobcat skidsteer loader. Born in the USA. Then we got down to our smaller gas-powered equipment, such as backpack blowers, weedwackers, chainsaws, and hedge trimmers. With only one or two exceptions, we have been purchasing Echo products. I did a little research. Echo has been headquartered for the last 30 years in Illinois. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese corporation Kioritz. I cannot tell 100% from their website if they actually build their machines here, but it kind of alludes to this fact. I will check into this further tomorrow morning. I plan to call their corporate office for an answer.

It’s much more difficult when we get to the little stuff; rakes, shovels, tarps, and the other less expensive stuff we use during our normal activities. I’m pretty sure that if I checked my shop tomorrow, there would be a great deal of stuff that was made in China.

Just as the ABC crew had difficulties replacing every single item with those made here in the US, such is our dilemna as well. But I have decided to make a concerted effort from this day forward to look at the label of every item I buy, looking for that ‘Made in the USA‘ label. Will you join me? The ABC  program said that if we all spent as little as 18 cents daily, or about $65.70 a year in purchasing Made in US items, we would help creat over 200,000 new jobs in this country! I spend more than that for a night out with my wife! I think I can make an effort to help my fellow Americans by shopping US-made products.

Again I ask, will you join me, and Eden Landscaping, in just spending an extra few minutes each time you shop, and look for the ‘Made in the USA’ Label?  Your country will thank you.