#AskTamara: #LeadSafeMama what is your criteria for taking on a sponsorship from a company?

Posted June 5, 2019*

So to answer this question take the following path with me….

1. Have I already written about or linked to a post from the company? if “Yes” go to “2”, if “No” go to “7”
2. Did the modern / current product from this company consistently test negative for the toxicants Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium and Antimony? if “Yes” go to “3”, if “No” go to “7”
3. Have I tested and/or reported on MANY examples from this company? if “Yes” go to “4”, if “No” go to “7”
4. Does the company have a good history of not producing goods with toxicants OR of cleaning things up quickly (making safer products, changing their labeling) if they historically found out that their goods unexpectedly had toxicants? if “Yes” go to “5”, if “No” go to “7”
5. Does the company make ANY products with the top five toxicants (in #2 above)? if “Yes” go to “7”, if “No” go to “6”
6. I might consider a sponsorship relationship (advertising, giveaways, discount codes for my readers) with this company (Stop here.)
7. It is highly unlikely that I would consider a sponsorship with this company*. Stop here.

*One exception I can think of is that I might consider a sponsorship relationship with Corelle – given I am certain that a full segment of their product line is consistently free of Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Arsenic and Antimony (even though their more-decorated/colorful products may have Cadmium and other toxicants.)

Product manufacturers or service providers that I have a relationship with now, or have had sponsorships (or similar relationships) with, or done giveaways with (or promoted posts for) in the past (since re-launching my work in late-2016) – it’s a very short list!:

• Earth Mama Angel Baby
• CertifiedKit.com
• Green Toys
• Kleynimals
• WaterRight, Inc.
• Caveman Cups

With each of the above companies I like their products BEFORE I had a relationship with them!

• Amazon.com (as an affiliate)*

Off the top of my head, a handful of companies that I know do not meet my criteria, and from whom I would never accept a sponsorship from: Le Creuset, Xtrema, VitaClay, Pura Kiki, Green Sprouts, Marble King, Starbucks, Tupperware, Nuk, Finex, and Earth Paste / Redmond Salt – among others (each company name is linked to my category of posts where that company is tagged if you want more background on the “why” behind each of those).

Companies I would LOVE to have on board as ongoing sponsors of my blog (because they are AMAZING companies and – for some – because some of them have implemented changes as a result of my work): Hydroflask, Ikea, Corelle, Stargazer Pans, SolidTeknics, LeadCheck, CertifiedKit, Green Toys, Southwest Airlines, Enterprise Rental Cars, Holiday Inn Express… (I’ll add more as I think of them!)

Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

I think I may chat with an artist about doing a simple Venn diagram for this at some point (just for some more visual/visceral fun!)

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

*Companies listed here may change at any point in the future!

**Amazon links are affiliate links, if you purchase something after clicking on one of my links I may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you.