Stella McCartney Environmental Bag

It seems like everyone is doing an environmental shopping bag these days.  This one from Stella McCartney is due out this June for $495 and is made of organic cotton.  Hermes is also coming out with one, the Silky Pop reusable bag for $960.  It collapsesand folds up to a wallet size calfskin pouch.  There is also a grocery tote from designer Consuelo Castiglioni of Marni for $843.  I am all for being environmental and using less plastic bags – of course I love a fabulous bag even if it is for grocery shopping but there is something amiss with spending this amount of money for leaking poultry and juicy strawberries.  In Europe everyone carries one of these around for stopping by the bakery or picking up oranges on the way home but in the US we just don’t shop that way.  I need at least 3 bags for a week’s worth of groceries.  I mean, at those prices it makes more sense to “reuse” my own has-been bags in my closet, like all my dozens of nylon Prada totes.  Or why not buy any one of the hundreds of giant bags out there, like the Chanel patent Cabas garbage bag for $1000.  It is really giant so you can fit a gallon of milk, an 8 pound chicken and 3 boxes of cereal with room to spare.   And the patent leather makes it easy to clean for meaty spills.   Or more realistically, get a Le Pliage from Longchamp for $115.  I feel like economy should come into play when you’re trying to be environmental because there are resources being used that could go to something more worthy (like a nice bag you can use for a lifetime instead of one that will get trashed in a few months) .  At some point, it just doesn’t make any sense.