I’m Not A Plastic Bag…. But What Am I, Then?

Treehugger raises ethical concerns over the trendy, £5 canvas grocery bags, designed by Anya Hindmarch. The bags are produced in China using cheap labor, composed of non-organic materials, and fail to meet fair trade standards.   Not eco friendly at all. 

The bag’s selling point, other than the celebrity hype, is the slogan. “I’m not a plastic bag” is scrawled across the canvas; a concept that was originally conceived to raise awareness and profits for We Are What We Do, a London based environmental movement.   

While the whole idea might have started out with good intentions, the bag’s startling popularity (Treehugger reports that 200,000 sold out in 7 hours, fetching up to  £250 a pop on ebay) seems to have shifted the focus away from ethical consumerism and towards the lucrative potential of an “it” bag.  Any positive environmental impact is surely compromised by the wastes of mass production.

Contributed by Jonas E Pellis