Fourth of July Buy: Water

The 4th of July is getting close and everyone is getting excited.  Independence Day is sure to bring BBQs, fireworks, and general fun in the sun. As you get ready for the big weekend, don’t forget to stock up on H2O, as temperatures are sure to get up into 80s or 90s, and you are going to want to stay well-hydrated. 

When you stock up, be sure buy American.  Bottled water is one of those items where the American-version and the foreign-bottled version are virtually identical.  So, why not buy American and do your part to create American jobs? 

Two of my favorite brands of bottled water are Aquafina and Dasani.  These brands can be found anywhere, they are both bottled in the USA, and they are also owned by American companies.  That means buying these brands gives you the most American-job-creating bang for your buck. 

These are two of the most popular brands, but there are more than a hundred American bottled water brands out there.  Be sure to reach for one of them when you crave that high quality H2O (yes, that is a Waterboy reference).

Until next time, here’s to doing what we can to support our country by buying American.

Randy

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The Buy American Bible

If you are serious about buying American, or simply are interested in the topic, the first thing you should do is buy this book:  How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism by Roger Simmermaker.  This book is quite simply the best on the topic.  I consider it to be the Buy American Bible. 

I was first given this book at a conference a little over a year ago.  I remember flipping through it on my way home and it making an immediate impression on me.  This book is what first got my mind stirring about the importance of buying American and what it means for jobs and the future of our country.  A few months later, I was committed buying American with every purchase I make, blogging about it, and challenging those around me to do the same.

In this book, Simmermaker does a good job of laying out why buying American is so important for our country.  More importantly, he gives you the tools to start buying American yourself.  Even if you know nothing about buying American, this book will get you ready to use consumer patriotism to help create American jobs in a matter of minutes.

This book provides lots of useful tips about where to find American-made items.  It also has useful lists of consumer brands and information on what countries the companies that own those brands are from. 

When choosing between two equivalent items made in the USA, I will generally choose an item made by an American-owned company over a foreign-owned company, if I have that choice.  It helps create more American jobs to do that.  This book makes these choices very easy.  After a little while using this book, you will just know where to find American-made staples produced by American-owned companies.

If you want to know the nuts and bolts of buying American, get the information from the guy who knows the topic best: Roger Simmermaker.  Get your copy of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism today.  You can buy it right now by clicking here: http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/index.php.

Until next time, here’s to doing what we can to support our country by buying American.

Randy

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Buy American Only Applies to YOU!

When I embarked on my Buy American Challenge, one thing I realized early on was the importance of making sure that my choice to buy American whenever possible was not unduly influencing those around me.  It is one thing to show a good example of how to buy American, it is quite another to force others to buy American-made goods against their will, whether it is done intentionally or not.

It is important not to allow this to happen for several reasons.  Not only is it not courteous to impose your buying habits on others, but it can also make it unsustainable to remain committed to your own buy American principles when those closest to you are becoming frustrated. 

Let me boil this down with an easy example for the guys out there: If your wife or girlfriend wants to buy a dress made in Guatemala, let her do it.  Don’t even think about telling her she can’t or shouldn’t buy any item of clothing she wants because it’s not made in America.  Trust me; this will not be well received.  It also could make it difficult for you to continue buying American yourself. 

That’s why the Buy American Challenge only applies to one’s own personal purchase decisions.  It does not apply to any of the joint purchases we make with spouses, family members, or friends.  It does not apply household purchases.  It also does not apply to purchases we make for the businesses we work for.  That is not to say that a product’s country of origin can’t be one factor of many considered when making these kinds of purchases.  We simply should never feel the need to apply our own personal purchasing values to purchases made with, or on behalf of, others.

Ultimately, we want those closest to us to be supportive of our decision to buy American.  In fact, we will need their support to stay on a buy American program.  If those close to us decide to adopt a buy American lifestyle as well, that’s great, but it has to be their choice to do it.  Let’s make sure those around us are not unwillingly being dragged on a buy American journey.

Until next time, here’s to doing what we can to support our country by buying American.

Randy

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Simple Choices: American Made Shower Head

A couple weeks ago I bought an American made shower head.  I took a little while before I wrote this blog entry because I wanted to use the shower head before talking about it. I’m glad that I did, because I can honestly say that this is the best showerhead I have ever used. 

The shower head I bought was a very high quality brass shower head made by Sloan Valve in Franklin Park, IL.  The showerhead is called the Act-O-Matic AC-51. 

I began my search for American made shower head at the Home Depot.  I was very disappointed to find that even though they had about 50 different shower heads to choose from, not a single one of them was made in the USA.  I could not believe it.

So I had to go online.  I did searches for “American made shower head” and “shower head made in USA.”  Again, I was surprised and disappointed that no American made shower heads turned up in that search.  Finally, I went to Ebay and did some similar searches there.  Whenever I can’t find an American made version of something in a typical Google search, I go to Ebay to see if I can find it there.  It’s true, you can find anything on Ebay.  That’s where I found that Sloan’s Act-O-Matic was American-made.  I then did a Google search for “Act-O-Matic shower head” and lots of options popped up.  I got mine for $58, a steal for a top of the line shower head like this one.

The Act-O-Matic is a very high quality shower head.  The one I purchased is a sharp chrome plated head, but you can get it in three other finishes.  Here is a little more info on this shower head: http://www.sloanvalve.com/Specifications/ac11.pdf.

What is unique about this shower head is that when you turn off the water, not a single drip leaves the shower head again.  It just seals back up water tight.  Oh, and the water pressure is fantastic with the Act-O-Matic as well.

Until next time, here’s to doing what we can to support our country by buying American.

Randy

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