This "Green" Bag Is Way Too Cool

How cool is being "green?" So cool that a canvas shopping bag that can be bought for $10 to $15 in supermarkets has caused shopper riots in Asia and buyer frenzy on eBay.

The bag in demand is a recyclable and reusable fabric tote emblazoned with the words "I'm Not a Plastic Bag."

The tote was created by Anya Hindmarch, the London-based fashion cult-favorite designer of handbags that cost upwards of $1,500. She introduced her limited-edition $10 eco-bag in London in a modest effort to draw awareness to the environmental dangers of the ubiquitous plastic supermarket bag. The plastic bags are made of polyethylene and take up to 500 years to bio-degrade. Only a small fraction of them are currently recycled.

The "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" bag quickly became a fashion statement in London, and Hindmarch began issuing new limited editions for sale in other world capitals.

The latest editions were up for sale July 18 — a blue version at Whole Foods supermarkets in the New York metropolitan area and a green and gray style at The Design Museum in London.

Meanwhile, Hindmarch has been forced to move sales of some of the bags online to avoid ugly incidents at stores in Southeast Asia. A stampede sent 30 frustrated bag-buyers to the hospital in Taiwan in June, and a shopping mall in Hong Kong was closed by the police to avert violence.

A note on the Hindmarch Web site announces that scheduled tote bag sales in Beijing, Shanghai and Jakarta have been canceled due to "concerns for our customers' safety." The sales of tote versions created for Asian buyers are expected to be moved online.

Meanwhile, sales of various editions of the bag are brisk on eBay, with completed auction prices starting at over $100 and topping out at more than $600 for a "rare" U.K. edition.

Anya Hindmarch leather goods are currently sold in 29 stores around the world.