Whole Foods and Anya Hindmarch's "I'm Not a Plastic Bag": July 18th Launch

So I met a friend for lunch yesterday at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods...where I was reminded about the Anya Hindmarch stateside launch of her "I'm not a plastic bag" bags through the Whole Foods Market. Like other things (Facebook) I was trying to avoid the "INAPB" tote trend. I think these were released and sold out the same day at AH's NYC store locations a month ago (I wasn't in the city, nor was I terribly interested) and, while I believe this is a lovely sentiment and I'm happy that people are getting hip to being environmentally responsible...I somehow doubt that if this really were an awakened consciousness to responsible behaviour that it would really necessitate near-rioting for ONE PARTICULAR BAG. Why not any cool canvas bag, take your pick, the MET, Museum of Natural History, Bloomies, the plain Blick art tote or crafters version, or my favourite the LL Bean tote (with your initials, ohhhh) heck why not just the Whole Foods canvas bag that already exists. Obviously like any good cult trend, its the bag more than the sentiment. Fine, if it gets you doing the right thing than that's right by me.

In any case, I am happy to provide the following information for you as per Whole Foods (well at the Columbus Circle location anyway)....so get your alarm clocks set, I'm sure it will be a madhouse in there....I mean there's huge lines on any given day just to get sushi!!!

*Bag Rules* (their words not mine!)

• Limit 3 bags per purchase; first come, first served. We will have 3,000 bags to sell; when they're gone, they're gone.
• Bags will be available for purchase at MAIN REGISTERS ONLY not at ECO (whatever that is) or the COFFEE BAR.
• We will have several registers dedicated solely to bag purchases in order to expedite your visit.
• If you are doing other shopping, we recommend you buy your bag first.
• If you are not familiar with our store, please follow the bag signs; there will be a Team Member holding an "End of Line" sign indicating where you should line up. His name is Gabriel. Say "good morning"!
• Due to overwhelming response to this promotion, we thank you in advance for your patience.
• Remember when you reuse this bag, we'll give you 5 cents off your purchase (yeah as if that is the incentive getting all you girls out there, but I like how they stuck it in at the end anyway, it sort of has some dark humour to it)!
  

And if you want to pay 200$ for one on Ebay (don't be ridiculous) you can just click here.

Oh and when you decide that this is all a little silly, let me know and I'll tell you where to hit up for some equally cool totes that do the job just the same (and hey not everyone will be carrying one)...cuz you just know this is going to start a whole cascade of copy-cat bags with deep eco-messages. Be real, get a canvas bag at your local health food store!!! When we go grocery shopping we pull out our assortment of canvas bags from health food stores around the world instead of using 6 or 7 plastic bags.

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FYI:

From July 18th I'm Not A Plastic bag will be available to buy from the following East Coast Whole Foods Market stores.

Purchases will be limited to three bags per customer at Whole Foods Market stores

95 Houston Street, New York, NY 10002
250 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001
The Shops at Columbus Circle, 10 Columbus Circle, Suite SC101, New York, NY 10019
905 River Road, Edgewater, NJ, 07020
90 e. Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830
429 North Broadway, Jericho, NY 11753
222 Main Street, Madison, NJ 07940
2101 Northern Boulevard, Munsey Park, NY 11030
471 Rte. 35 North, Red Bank, NJ 07701
187 Millburn Avenue, Millburn, NJ 07041
701 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07042
44 Godwin Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Union Square South, New York, NY 10003
110 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, NY 10605
235 Prospect Ave, West Orange, NJ 07052