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It started with a few sparks, a hiss, and then silence on New Year's morning. The acrid smell of burnt plastic signalled - the toaster had died. It was the last chinese-made appliance in the Bongiorni household that got broken.

Sara Bongiorni, an American journalist stood in the kitchen holding the toasted toaster. She knew this tiny thing was the beginning of something bigger - a simple idea, but a bold challenge for her family - to live an entire year without buying anything that was made in China. 

There was no politics involved, but a spark of curiosity. Her experiment was soon about to unfold the the once-invisible woven network of global supply economy in everyday life.

Her all-American home quickly hit the rough edge. When they tried to get school supplies, birthday gifts, or even a pair of sneakers they felt the initial bite. China seemed everywhere - in her drawers, closets, toys, and daily routine. Every single thing they searched for was a treasure hunt. After a month, it felt like a war.

Soon, shopping trips became negotiations. The world seemed against them. Everytime they searched for something, a piece of the puzzle was never found. The worst was when Christmas arrived. The husband needed gadgets. Their house required lightbulbs, batteries, extension chords and Children's christmas presents were all embedded with the universal three words "Made in China".

In the exhausting fight with products she couldn't buy, and the alternatives that didn't exist - a shift in perspective arrived. What in the beginning seemed as deprivation shifted into revelation. They learned where things came from, how the global trade shaped their societal needs, and how interconnected the world was.

By the end of the year - the Bongiornis didnt win the challenge and could hardly escape from China made goods. They could not change their world - but surely had a change in their perception.

They realized that the world was not built by one nation or a factory- but by the millions of unseen hands that touch our lives every single day - unknowingly and unnoticeably. For instance, every grain of food they ate passed through countless people - farmers, packagers, transporters, grinders, operators, inspectors... before it finally reached their home. 

Afterall, not everything made in China was exclusively made there.

Their story is proof that we cannot live outside the circle of the world - but we can live with higher awareness inside it. It is a heap of responsibility and a quiet reminder of the power that we have. If collectively all the people stopped buying selective things, certainly a nation might go down - but this truth works both ways.

Note: Sara Bongiorni's research was published in 2007.