Am I The Only Person That Bothers About Stuff Like This?

@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
September 2, 2010 3:49pm CST
I don't know about you but - generally, when I buy stuff like shampoo I don't check the back to see where it has been manufactured. For some reason I check the back of the bottle after I get the thing home..why I do this I don't know. But anyway..Proctor & Gamble has a factory in England that produces - basically, anything with chemicals in it, and that includes Herbal Essences Shampoo. So, why did it bother me so much when I read on the back of my latest bottle "Made In France." I cannot get my head around the fact we have a massive factory capable of making this stuff and yet we import it from France. What's the betting that we EXPORT the SAME product back to them? Crazy isn't it? Or is it? Do we make ANYTHING anymore that stays in our own bloody country or are we more bothered about making money from exports? It just doesn't make any sense to me, especially with Global Warming and saving energy transporting stuff long distances.
3 people like this
9 responses
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
2 Sep 10
Same issue here. I mean it's great that we can get things from all over the world, where it would have been impossible or extremely difficult once upon a time, but why is it necessary to ship stuff from some other place, when we are perfectly capable of making it here?
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157562)
• United States
2 Sep 10
We are providing jobs, dontcha know, for the shippers and receivers. The people who load the freight and deliver it.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
2 Sep 10
Most likely the replacement jobs aren't comparable to any jobs that were lost...
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 Sep 10
I get what you're saying GardenGerty but you could say that if the importing gets out of hand then jobs will go in factories in our own countries. It's bad enough with our car industry (and yours) so I reckon the jobs created in freight, etc, doesn't cover the ones lost in those kind of industries.
1 person likes this
@Absinto (2385)
• Portugal
2 Sep 10
I actually never noticed anything like that except one thing. Here in São Miguel (more popular island of the Azores) they make mint sigarettes yet they dont sell in any of the other islands or even there. The export it out to the maiin continente in Portugal. It just isnt fair. Why make something that you arent going to sell where it is actually mad?
@Absinto (2385)
• Portugal
2 Sep 10
Nice choice :) Hope you get to come here to see the whales one day
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 Sep 10
Really? That's a bit mean isn't it? By the way, the Azores is on my list of places to visit..mainly for whalewatching. No money at the moment to do that but one day...one day.
• United States
2 Sep 10
You are not the only one, it bothers a lot of Americans that we can't make things in our own country anymore. It bothers me whenever I see things that say "Made in China", "Made in India", "Made in Germany" or "Made in Mexico", it's like why can't it say "Made in America". Nothing is made in the U.S. anymore.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 Sep 10
Since I joined MyLot I have learned about this more and more. Before that I had no idea that America had the same problems (like we do) with importing practically everything. I reckon our clothes industry was the first to suffer. For example, Marks & Spencer prided itself on having everything in their store made in Britain i.e. the St. Michael brand. Granted, it all got a bit old-fashioned but that shouldn't be an excuse to outsource abroad and have NOTHING made here in that store, including the underwear, which now comes from places like Egypt and Sri Lanka. Ridiculous isn't it?
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Sep 10
It is, and it is taking jobs away from the people who need it the most. The unemployment rate is high in this country thanks outsourcing.
• United States
4 Sep 10
sounds like england's doing the same thing america is. i'm hard pressed to find anything made here anymore. however,i will still buy linen from the UK.frankly,it's superior. i'm not buying 180 thread count walmart crap.our irish made 80 year old coverlets are still being used.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
4 Sep 10
I wish I could find bedding that was made in the UK. The companies are British but they have it made abroad because it's cheaper labour. Drives me nuts. I have British made pillows and that's about it. I wouldn't buy bedding from ASDA either..you may or may not know that ASDA is now owned by Wal*Mart!
@natnickeep (2336)
• United States
2 Sep 10
Wow that is very interesting. I truly never even look but I will be now.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 Sep 10
I've only noticed it recently and I bought this shampoo in Boots, so perhaps they are importing it..I dunno how these things work to be honest. I might mention it the next time I go in. My Mum lives near a shop where practically everything in there is made abroad. She said that her so-called Fairy Liquid was nowhere near as good as the stuff made in the UK, which of course, is where it was made originally. She didn't save any money on it either and said that she had to use practically the whole bottle before she got bubbles. Now, I have Fairy Liquid made in the UK and it's fine. Whether the stuff made abroad has different ingredients in it (which is likely) I don't know, but it's all very odd and I think I'm going to start boycotting stuff made abroad from now on, especially when I know that certain items can be made here.
• United States
7 Sep 10
It could be different. Different countries have different policies about what chemicals they can use in products and who they can test them on. Like animal testing. So maybe one is more natural then the other. But that sure is weird anyhow. I am going to be looking at every label now Janey thanks lol.
@bloemart (222)
• Philippines
3 Sep 10
oh, that is really funny. But here in our country is funnier because we know that there are some factory in our country but whenever we buy these products, they cost expensive because they are imported. As I found out that the products made here are being ship in other country and then it will return it in higher price tagging imported. It is really ridiculous.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 Sep 10
I think the world has officially gone mad! Thanks for sharing.
@GardenGerty (157562)
• United States
2 Sep 10
You are going to start a trend here of people checking their purchases. Actually there have been books and documentaries lately about people not eating or buying things that come from more than 100 miles from their home. I am pretty sure my shampoo is made in the USA, but cannot go check it right now. It is from a direct sales company, though, so there is still the shipping.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 Sep 10
I feel an email coming on to Proctor & Gamble, see what they have to say for themselves. If I get a reply I shall post it on here for all to see. Wish me luck!
3 Sep 10
The only time I check the back of bottles is when I'm sitting on the bog and want something to read (I've been told it's a bloke thing - and who said we can't multitask ) It doesn't surprise me in the slightest anymore when someone mentions that such and such has been exported from abroad when we are more than capable of making it here. It all comes down to the immediate cost, it's cheaper to export than to start making something here and suffer the initial expense. It annoys me more when it comes to fresh products like fruit & veg with businesses still opting to import stuff from abroad rather than supporting the industry over here.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 Sep 10
Funnily enough, that's how I checked my bottle lol. I was on the toilet at the time with nowt else better to do so... I refuse to buy any apples from abroad. As soon as I see apples from the UK that's it I'll stock up them (not go mad, but enough to make me feel smug) lol. I just can't stand Granny Smiths and the like being grown in South Africa, etc. I know that people want apples all the year round but why can't they develop their own, why pinch ours?
• Philippines
3 Sep 10
me too..i dont bother looking and reading what it says at the back portion of the things im buying..
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 Sep 10
It's not something I normally do but when I do choose to look, I get a bit angry lol. Welcome to MyLot!