Sainsbury's defends reusable bag
Sainsbury’s today shrugged off concerns over a reusable Anya Hindmarch bag which was made in China.
Shoppers snapped up 20,000 of the £5 designer creations within an hour of them going on sale earlier this week.
The Chinese origin of the “I’m not a plastic bag” reportedly raised concerns about its carbon footprint.
However, the supermarket chain said the bags had been transported by sea instead of air to reduce their environmental impact.
“It is sea freighted and obviously our intention with the bag was to create a reusable bag that eliminated plastic bags,” a spokeswoman said.
Sainsbury’s bought carbon credits to help offset the impact of the bags’ sea transport from China.
Hindmarch developed the reusable cotton bags with the We Are What We Do movement to help cut the number of plastic carriers used in the UK.
Their retail price was just £5 – but the bags soon appeared on auction site eBay for more than £100.
They first shot to fame after a host of celebrities and fashionistas were photographed with them during February’s London Fashion Week.
The We Are What We Do group complained that the bag was meant to be sold on a not-for-profit basis for £5 to help the environment – instead of being auctioned off.
