Word: bags
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...episodes of Sex and the City are devoted to discussing the waiting lists, long lines and bribes to key salespeople often required to get an early shot at the most sought-after Birkin, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga or Fendi baguette. So when the newest must-have tote, designed by British bag guru Anya Hindmarch, went on sale in England in April, it wasn't terribly unusual that devotees began lining up at 2 a.m. or that all 20,000 coveted pieces were gone by 9 a.m. What was odd was that instead of queuing up in front of department stores...
...Hindmarch isn't the only high-priced designer--her wares typically cost thousands of dollars apiece--trying to improve the world one purse at a time. Joining her in the attempt to persuade fashionistas to carry their groceries home in a reusable bag is Stella McCartney, the English designer--and daughter of Sir Paul--whose organic cotton shopper retails for $495. Hermes' collapsible silk bag costs nearly double that, while Louis Vuitton's canvas tote retails for a staggering $1,720. Of course, people who can handle those kinds of price tags are probably outsourcing their grocery shopping. But Hindmarch...
...being the Prius of plastic bags has its pitfalls. After the stampede in Taipei, sales of the Hindmarch bag were canceled in Beijing, Jakarta, Shanghai and Singapore. And to add irony to injury, some of the I'm Not a Plastic Bag totes sold after the near riot in Hong Kong were triple-wrapped in plastic bags in an effort to keep their new owners from being mugged on their way home...
Environmentalists applaud such efforts but worry about an unsavory side effect: increased use of paper bags. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, demand for paper bags in the U.S. consumes 14 million trees a year. And the Environmental Protection Agency has noted that the production of paper bags involves more energy use and water pollution than that of plastic bags. Paper bags are heavier--and therefore use more fossil fuel during shipping--although they are biodegradable and recyclable. They're also more expensive for retailers, at 5.7¢ per bag (and up to 17.6¢ for ones with handles...
...customers bring their own bags, they receive a discount of $0.05 per bag, and the store also offers reusable bags for a dollar, said Lynay J. Smith, the marketing team leader at the Fresh Pond Whole Foods...