it'll be interesting to see what will become of these bags in a year's--or even a week's--time. Especially now that they've acquired a mini-pariah status, or just that they've become really common. I wonder if Keira Knightley will doggedly continue to use one, or will it get junked when the next trend--perhaps an even more righteous one--comes along.

Leaves one to consider the wisdom of harnessing this sort of consumerism to promote environmentalism (ie. "to influence in a positive way"). There's nothing inherently wrong with designer or trendy or conspicuous objects, if they work in their intended way.

Problem is: with consumerism, there are always two intentions. Yes, the design says "conserve", but it also says "be fashionable." For the moment, there may be some harmony between the two messages. Great, but for how long?

These bags are only useful if they actually replace plastic ones. I wonder how many plastic bags it will take to equal the embodied energy of one of these bags? I for one, will be counting (kind of). I hope this whole exercise turns out to be energy-positive.

This is something that we've been keeping tabs on and have made some posts on our blog (www.fairbrand.org/blog).

If this was launched by a company not rooted in ethics then there would be a real concern of greenwashing.

I doubt any single person in that line was there for environmental reasons. There are plenty of alternative reusable bags, this was all about the latest must have.

Its a good design idea but the fact that it was only produced as a limited edition proves it was more about being 'seen to be green' that anything more substantial

Expect these bags to get turfed soon when the trend moves on and this bag becomes "so yesterday".

fashion is about waste, anyone have a perfectly good outfit in their closet? But cant wear it anymore because its "outdated"?

Sounds like people went crazy over a bag.

Here's hoping people USE these things - remember, it's far better to use a plastic bag over and over again once it's been created than it is to create a cloth bag explicitly for the purpose.

I am using up all the old plastic bags which we hoarded from the bad old days alongside the sturdier and superior reusable bags. I can easily get 5 or 10 extra uses out of a plastic bag before I use it as a bin liner, and I can empty the bin without taking out the liner a few times before sending it out to landfill.

Don't lose sight of common sense in the quest to look green!

fashion is about waste, anyone have a perfectly good outfit in their closet? But cant wear it anymore because its "outdated"?

Nope. That's what "timeless classics" are all about. As a man, I can wear jeans or slacks with t-shirts or dress shirts, and I will always look fashionable. My partner has a collection of dresses, sun dresses, skirts, and blouses that are also "timeless". We only stop wearing our clothes when they fall apart. Anyone can if they simply buy the things that never go out of style.

My biggest initial problem with the bag was that it's just not really designed for hauling things around instead of getting plastic bags with your shopping. It's roomy, but the straps are too small to toss it over your shoulder. It's more a purse than a tote, and any large bag will serve the same purpose. After all, all it takes to use less plastic bags is a large, fabric alternative. It can even be stylish. It just needs to be something actually useful and appealing to you, so you won't get rid of it in a month when something else is the rage.

Sure, nobody ever claimed the bag was fairtrade or organic. The people who are snapping it up don't really care, though, I suspect; I'd bet many of them will be selling it for a profit on eBay. I hope the backlash here is against greenwashing, not green products in general. There has been a lot of attention paid to banning plastic bags lately, as well as their alternatives. I hope that continues.

My thoughts exactly....

http://goldandsilverstars.blogspot.com/2007/04/it-tote.html

I thought this bag smelled un-green from the get-go. My first take on it appeared in a post way back on 3/22/07. Quite a crazy scene.

id say only a mere 2% of the people in that queue would have wanted that bag for personal usage. people on ebay are selling batches of them and requiring more than what the bag is worth.

you ask a seller for a reasonable price to buy of say £20 the bag isnt even worth £20 to begin with and they say its not enough!!! i think all sellers on ebay should be banned from selling. i mean come on! someone expected someone to bid more than a grand for a craply made bag! i feel for the people in china who were reportidly claimed for producing it. and it this was the case! any profits made on ebay from sellers should go direct to the people who made the bag in china. afterall its only fair. they are making money from the people who put their endless efforts into something thats being flogged for more than they imagined.

To gain money from a purpose of a bag to cash in for fashion statments is a disgusting cause. and if the organisation and anya hindmarch were so bothered by the cause of plastic bags wouldnt it have made sense to produce the bags for a limited time rather than a limited amount being produced!?

People of today have gone mental in the head. they are all about greed and selfishness. if it was such a problem using plastic bags how come this wasnt delt with ten years ago or so?! a question that baffles me to why the hype of the use of plastic bags is such a concern all of a sudden. What makes it worse is the hype is only grew bigger from a designer producing a bag that was once spotted on an actress!!

people need to stop copying of the celebs and be themselves. its pathetic the way people go on. they see something a celeb has so they immediatly want to buy it or its replica to sell on ebay to make cash from it. the world needs to grow up!

what happened to the days of when ebay was once an auction site, and all you could do was put things on to sell on auction and not at buy no prices! or no reserves?! what happened to that?! i think its ludacris that people are expecting others to pay so much money for something thats worth so little.

Nah - environmentalists would not have been so concerned to get in line for a latest must-have at 2am in the morning. These people don't give a damn what organic or fair trade means. They just want the look.

Afterall, if anyone should care about the environment, they could have done that with a plain-old canvas bag whenever they go shopping. (I use mine for years, before people start talking about recycling.)

But then, for Hindmarch to raise the profile of environmental concern, and to hope that perhaps 1 out of every 10,000 buyers of this bag might eventually truly convert to be genuinely concerned about what their own impact is on the environment in the long run, and to change their behavior for the better, I would say, that might still worth the effort, and I would endure the stupidity in this all. (Afterall, who would pay $200 for a $15 bag that they might use for less than 5 times, before the trend moves them to the next big thing?!? How else can we describe it, except stupidity and vanity, plain and simple?)

If anyone wants to buy one and lives in NYC, e-mail me! haha!

Most of you who posted here are haters! If AH used hemp or organic cottons, the price won't be at £5 anymore. If the price goes up, do you think people want to buy the bag?

The reason people buy this bag is because it is cheap and it is designed by AH. Please name other designer who is selling his/her creation this much.

Anyway, human beings are just plain hypocrite. They will lash out on things that they can't get. Noone is forcing you to buy the bag. If people buy the bag because it is a cult status item, so be it.

The main message here is to stop usage of plastic bags. I personally think that this bag is serving its purpose because it's NOT a plastic bag.

Don't talk about farmers, organic cotton, hemp, etc. Because these are completely different subjects. You can't expect to change the world in a second!

Most people are just being hypocritical about the matter... how many of you are 100% eco-minded out there? Please!!

So what, the bag isn't made from organic cotton, but is everything you own made from 100% organic cotton (your t-shirts, for instance)?

It's made in China, which i truly find appauling, but so are many other items in our homes, like our electronics or much worse, dangerous toys our children play with.

Let's just stop being unfair with AH and We Are What We Do, and give them the credit for RAISING AWARENESS on the plastic bag subject.
Mission accomplished.