I can never quite decide whether or not it’s good that green is the new black, as far as environmentalism goes. Isn’t any kind of attention to a very worthy cause (i.e. whether or not we survive as a race) good?
Today, unfortunately, I’m voting no. Some of the most popular green initiatives are possibly making things worse - like carbon offsets, at least according to the New Internationalist.
And when it comes to fashion, it seems like haute couture has hijacked environmentalism instead of learning from it. Case in point: high-end designer Anya Hindmarch came up with the “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” bag.
Cute, eh? The bag originally retailed at 5 UK pounds, which was apparently less than it cost to make. The designer, who usually charges around 200 pounds for a clutch, said it was her way of trying to do her part to encourage people to reduce, reuse and recycle (even though the bag was made in China, meaning that it had to be shipped across the world in a very un-green way, nit pick nit pick…)
The result? Full-on mayhem. In New York City 3000 bags sold out in 29 minutes. 100s of people lined up for hours just to get one of these bags. The launches in Shanghai, Beijing and Jakarta have had to be cancelled, out of concerns for customer safety.
But don’t worry, if you want one, you can still get one, for a mere 200 pounds on eBay.
Come on now, are people really lining up for hours and forking out around $300 for a cotton bag because of their desperate desire to save the environment? A recovering fashionista myself, I understand the thrill of the clothing hunt. But it’s important to be honest about your motivations - and it’s gotten hard for me to believe that Hindmarch and her fans are really serious about environmentalism.
That’s not to say that I think environmentalism is rubbish! I’m all for genuine attempts to change the way we live. But I tend to think that the real key to saving the planet is, unfortunately, sacrifice. I think we need to buy less, not more. Eat local, flush our toilets less, sell our cars, maybe even give up our cell phones (gasp!), and so on and so forth. As for me, my $0.50 shopping bag from Food Basics works just fine.
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three comments
I agree that this green mania has gone off in the wrong direction. People seem to be missing the point -- sure saving the planet should be cool, but it's not about one designer's bag it's about how you live your life.
If people really want to help the world, they should forgo their designer labels for consignment store finds and the 0.50$ shopping bags you mentioned. Then donate the difference to a worthy cause. Sounds good to me.
Posted by Evey
August 3, 2007, 2:17 PM
DIY cloth bags! Cover your own $0.50 cloth bag with 1" pins! Iron on your own designed "I am not a plastic bag" logo!
I am a fashionista of the highest femme, an addict of sorts who suffers from bag and shoe "issues," but fer gosh's sake, there is not one part of me that would want to own a bag that EVERY OTHER fashionista owns.
Sorry to bring up the dog again, but when me and my partner brought Shelby into our lives it was right around the same time that we reformed ourselves and brought the cloth bags into our home for grocery (and many other) purchases.
We realized quite quickly that plastic bags were a necessity of having a pooping pooch and researched our options. We discovered something called "scoopies," a very practical and hilariously trendy (the slogan is "for people who love to pick up poop!") oven-mit shaped plastic bag for scooping. Best part? The bags break down completely over 18 months. The result? We get to be a trendy urban couple with designer "scoopies" for our pooch and care a bit about the environment by not bringing any more shopping bags into our house. Win-win.
My question is: if scoopies can do it, why can't everyone? In addition, why can't more grocery stores go the "no-frills" route and charge for their bags? Money talks, and the plastic bags would walk.
Posted by Stacey May
August 3, 2007, 2:45 PM
One of the restaurants where I worked had the biodegradeable plastic bags. They're neat (and so soft and smooth as well, if you happen to like caressing plastic bags...) but they're really expensive. We had to charge everyone $0.25 for each bag, and still the restaurant owner was losing money - I think you'd actually have to charge $0.40 to break even. They also are apparently not as biodegradeable as they say...sigh. But something's better than nothing, in this case, for sure!
Forgot to say: some people have designed their own "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" bags, except they say, "I'm Not a Smug T*at". Pity about the ref to female genitalia, but still kinda funny...
Posted by Thea
August 3, 2007, 4:22 PM
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