Why Does "Green" and "Eco-friendly" Have to Mean "Ugly?"
So, the Czarina loves her fashion, and her interior design. In the past, anything smacking of Progressive values was also synonymous with looking (and feeling, in the case of clothes) “crunchy.” I don’t want to dress like a Green Beret in stalk mode.
Luckily, some people are starting to get it. For instance, as we are all becoming more conscious of plastic bag waste, more people are carrying canvas bags to the grocery. Envirosax is a company working to design such bags – and they’re cute to boot.
From the Envirosax website:
Envirosax is proud to help protect the environment for tomorrow’s offspring by providing an eco-friendly alternative to plastic shopping bags that threaten a healthy eco-system. Envirosax bags are lightweight, portable, waterproof and each one holds the equivalent of two supermarket plastic bags thanks to reinforced seams.
Envirosax, in addition to having a graphic design series, also has a bamboo and hemp series.
As testament to the demand, both of these are currently sold out, but you can preorder them. Prices range from about $8.50 for the graphic designs like the one featured here, to $25 for the hemp.
Another company, ReusableBags.com, has a list of plastic bag facts and other bag ideas. We are all inundated on a daily basis about how terrible plastic bags for shopping are. However, the fact sheet on their site is really eye opening. A sample of their bullet items:
* Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
* According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
* According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)
* In 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag consumption tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. Approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to this reduced production. Governments around the world are considering implementing similar measures.
Their Pack-N-Tote is also very cute and functional.
Without question, someone always gets on me about leaving out the World Food Programme Feed Bag
This is Lauren Bush’s project. From the Amazon.com description:
“The FEED bag is a sturdy, reversible bag made out of natural burlap and cotton materials. The design of the bag was inspired by the big bags of food that I have seen being distributed to schools around the world. Besides being a cool bag, it is a tangible way to make a difference in the fight against child hunger! Every FEED bag sold will feed a child for a whole year in school! Thank you for your support of the FEED project! With your help we will be making a big difference in children’s lives around the world, one child at a time. So wear your bag with pride!”
OK, so ignoring the overuse! of ! exclamation points!!!!!, the thing is just hideous. I guess you are just supposed to ignore that small fact, and feel good about feeding!!! children!!! while you shell out SIXTY DOLLARS! What?! (Note to Lauren Bush: This is when you use exclamation points.)
An Amazon customer summed up the very next question that popped into my head:
When I first saw this, I thought it was such a wonderful idea! I’m disappointed in the price though-when I received it, it stated that only $20.00 of my dollars would be going to the fund. Top it off, made in China. Where does the rest of the $$ go? It’s better to give directly so that MORE OF YOUR DOLLARS GO WHERE THEY ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED!!
In the Czarina’s opinion, here’s an even better idea: just go straight to a pressing and local problem and use reusable bags to help minimize the US dependence on oil. Such purchases will also help generate demand for eco-friendly garb and accessories that aren’t as BUTT-UGLY as this Caliban-like genetic mutant of a tote.
Yes, I’m a liberal, I admit it. But, apparently paradoxically, I do have fashion sense. And carrying around some burlap sack that mostly pays for the administrative and PR costs of a charity deflects from the beauty of my Louboutins.
Just sayin’.
1 comment
I absolutely agree. It's good to see a few companies and stores "get it"...there's a good one called "green is black", (www.greenisblack.com is the web address), where I bought some shoes that actually look good, last week! Imagine that.
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