Is Anya Hindmarch's 'I'm Not A Plastic Bag' tote really eco-friendly?
When I first saw these cotton shopping bags
swinging from the shoulders of Keira Knightley and the Lilies (Cole and
Allen) I thought what a novel yet clever way to help the environment.
Then of course, because they had been spotted on the likes of Knightley
and co., they became popular... very popular and limited
stocks sold out almost as quickly as you could say 'eco-friendly'.
Then, as is now the case with highly-sought after fashion items, the £5
bags flooded eBay selling up to as much as £200, around the same price
as a regular Hindmarch bag! I began to wonder, with such limited
supplies what was the real point behind these supposedly eco-friendly
bags? And if they are really meant to help the environment then why
weren't they made readily available from Sainsburys at the beginning?
Why wait until April 25th?
There could be two reasons for this. Firstly, that the company didn't
expect such an overwhelming demand when they originally launched the
bag during London Fashion Week last month or they knew that
by limiting its availability to celebs and the fash-pack that it would
create a huge stir, increase demand so when it did launch it would be
an even greater success. If the latter reason is correct then talk
about savvy marketing!
Yesterday, the second batch of limited edition bags were released in Harrods, Anya Hindmarch stores, Dover Street Market and at Harvey Nichols where they have 600 in stock. Bags were also available on the website We Are What We Do, although some Catwalk Queen readers have complained about this process. Customers who registered on the Anya Hindmarch website to ensure they were the first to hear about where to buy the bags experienced delays this morning as they waited for email confirmation on where they could pick one up.
To those eagerly waiting, We Are What We Do have published the following apology for the problems experienced on their website this morning - "Due to such enormous and unprecedented demand for the Anya Hindmarch/We Are What We Do bag, we are currently experiencing problems with our website. We had taken every measure possible to avoid this and are working very hard to resolve the issue. We’re a small team, but aim to have the website working as soon as possible. Please bear with us." They wish to assure customers that, at this stage, stocks have not yet sold out. "For all those who have pre-registered for the Anya bag, we will notify you by email immediately as soon as our site is working. Please be aware that with over 11,000 names on our email list, the email may take time to get to you. Unfortunately we cannot take any telephone orders for the bags," said the site notice.
Alternatively, don't forget that supermarket chains such as Asda and
Tesco also do their own eco-friendly shoppers. Asda do a 'Bags For
Life' reusable shopper for just 5p with 1p of that going to charity.
They're available in all of the stores country-wide. Tesco's famous
green carrier bag is also just 5p, with proceeds also going to charity.
Or if you're looking for something a little more fashionable then People Tree sell an organic cotton shopper for just £5. After all, if you're serious about saving the environment then why not start your own trend with one of these?
While I love the idea of the Anya Hindmarch bag and get behind its concept 100 per cent I can't help but wonder why such a great product, that could potentially change the need for plastic shopping bags and the way we shop for good, would continue at such low availability. Let's not wait until they're released to the unwashed masses; we should be helping the environment today! [Kim Foster, originally published at Catwalk Queen].
Related: First mention of the 'I'm Not A Plastic Bag' bag on The Bag Lady | Hayden-Harnett's eco-tote
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At 6:30am this morning I was queuing outside Sainsburys waiting for the release of this bag, I was number 15 and luckily got the bag, I love it, it is great! However, I have to say 2 things:
1. It definitely been hyped up by the media to maximum proportions, I wonder whether half of those people in the queue for the bag are adamant eco warriors in other aspects of their life!
2. It's totally ridiculous to pay out huge sums on ebay for a bag you know has cost only £5... but more fool the bidder for bidding it up that high!
I myself can claim to be an eco warrior to some extent, and incresingly! I never use plastic bags anyway and have a selection of tesco and asda bags for life to pack my huge weekly shop in, and I am trying to be more and more eco aware, so at least although I did want the bag because it is now a fashion statement... I do respect the real reasons it has been made for too! Anything that makes us use less plastic has to be good, and if people are serious about not using so called disposable carrier bags, then they need to buy bags for life too because no way is this going to contain all of the weekly shop!
Nonetheless I love mine... and no it won't be appearing on ebay anytime soon!
Posted by: louise | April 25, 2007 2:17 PM