Green Toys sold in London, Ontario

"Oh boy! Yots uh yummy stuff. gamma."

Fiona's mother and father follow the green path as do many of their young friends. When Fiona hit two, a couple of months ago, her mother's lifelong friend, Emily, gave the little girl a Green Toys tea set.

I had never heard of Green Toys but it is not surprising that Emily knew of the company and supported it. All Green Toys are made in the States, mainly from recycled plastic milk containers. The company says that every pound of recycled plastic they use saves enough electricity to power a television for three weeks.

Just recently I blogged on a Canadian entrepreneur, Kevin O'Leary, the chap from the Dragon's Den and Shark Tank. In researching the piece I learned that the American toy manufacturer Mattel no longer makes toys in the United States. Some years ago, Mattel CEO Robert Eckert closed the toy company's Murray, Kentucky, manufacturing facility, moving all production to China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico. (I don't believe they have brought back much, if any, of the production.)

Surely, making stuff in the States from materials made in the States is better for the American economy than the Mattel approach. It would certainly have been better for the workers and the cities and towns affected by the closures.

If companies like Green Toys are able to produce stuff in the States, why idle plants and throw thousands out of work? Is the company's bottom line that important?