Whale tote bag, Hugo Guiness, 2008
I'm Not a Plastic Bag, tote bag, Anya Hindmarch, 2007
It’s difficult to pinpoint when the recent canvas tote craze really started, but there was a pivotal moment two years ago when Anya Hindmarch released the "I am Not a Plastic Bag" tote in collaboration with the global social change movement We Are What We Do. The bag was originally sold in limited numbers at Hindmarch boutiques, Colette and Dover Street Market in London, but when it went into wide release at Sainsbury’s 80,000 people lined up to get one. When the bag hit stores in Taiwan, there was so much demand that the riot police had to be called in to control a stampede, which sent 30 people to the hospital. Suddenly the formerly crunchy canvas tote had cache.
Jacobs by Marc Jacobs..., tote bag, Marc Jacobs, 2008
Marc Jacobs skewered his own eponymous empire with his "marc by marc for marc" tote. This fascination with cheap bags seemed like part reaction to, and part extension of the high-end handbag frenzy that gripped the fashion industry for much of the 00s. It had all the same qualities of exclusivity and brand envy, but also seemed at least in part to be an acknowledgement that things had gone too far. Was Mr. Jacobs’ self-mocking tote a mea culpa for the astronomical hand-bag prices he had helped engineer at Louis Vuiton or was it a sly attempt to mainstream the phenomenon?
Simultaneous with the fashion world’s affair with the tote, the graphic design community seemed to rediscover this humble sack. The canvas tote is a great medium for graphic design because it is flat and easy to print on. The canvas provides a beautiful off-white ground and the material is as wonderfully suited to silk-screen printing as primed canvas is to oil paint. The recent show at Open Space in Beacon, NY demonstrated the material appeal of the bags and the adaptability of their flat surface. Short-run printing and the quick transfer of graphic files make it remarkably easy to produce a relatively high quality bag. Design blogs have become enthralled by the never-ending stream of canvas totes — each one made unique by a clever and/or beautiful graphic.
Resistance is Fertile, tote bag, Adrian Johnson, 2008
But the primary reason that designers in both fields have embraced canvas totes so quickly and nearly universally is their compelling social benefits. Not only is canvas a renewable resource, but the bags are biodegradable and sturdy enough to stand up to years of use. Reusing canvas bags could reduce the number of plastic bags that are used and discarded every year. According to Vincent Cobb, founder of reusablebags.com, somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. The impact of the super-thin plastic bags given away free with purchase at super-markets and shops is so severe that governments from Ireland to San Francisco to China have banned their distribution altogether. With the devastating effects of global warming and pollution becoming a feature of everyday life, designers and consumers alike latched onto reusable canvas tote as a tangible step they could take to help the environment. Canvas totes are often cited as an example of how good design can help the environment because of the promise that they will replace plastic bags.
Alphabet, tote bag, Daniel Eatock, 2008
Ironically, however plastic bag problem can in large part be traced back to the quality of its design as well. Before the introduction of the ultra thin plastic bags in the 1980s groceries were packed almost exclusively in paper bags. Plastic bags were touted as a way to save trees. Within a few years plastic was dominant and now commands 80% of grocery and supermarket traffic. Comparing a plastic bag to a paper bag it is easy to see why: the ultra thin plastic bag is a vastly superior design. It consumes 40 percent less energy, generates 80 percent less solid waste, produces 70 percent fewer atmospheric emissions, and releases up to 94 percent fewer waterborne wastes. A plastic bag costs roughly a quarter as much to produce as a paper bag and is substantially lighter so it takes a great less more fossil fuel to transport. Plastic bags are among the most highly reused items in the home and are just as recyclable as paper.
The problem is that what is marvelous about an individual plastic bag becomes menacing when multiplied out to accommodate a rapidly growing global economy. The low cost of the bags allowed merchants to give them away and despite the strength of an individual bag, they are routinely packed with a single item or double-bagged unnecessarily. The bag was so cleverly designed that there is simply no barrier to their indiscriminate distribution. Their incredible durability means it can take up to hundreds of years for them to decompose (a process that releases hazardous toxins). Although plastic bags are recyclable, the evidence suggests that even after ten years, in-store recycling programs have barely managed to achieve a one percent recycle rate. It is simply too easy and efficient to keep making and distributing more plastic bags. Meanwhile consumers mistakenly try to recycle the bags through their curbside recycling programs (perhaps because of the recycle symbols printed on the bags) creating a sorting nightmare at recycling facilities across the country.
For Like Ever, tote bag, Vllg, 2005
Are we headed for the same kind of catch-22 with the adoption of the cleverly designed canvas tote with its renewable materials and infinite potential for customization? I am certainly an outlier in this case but I recently found twenty-three canvas totes in my house. Most of them were given to me as promotional materials for design studios, start-ups, boutique shops; more than one came from an environmental event or organization; one even commemorates a friend’s wedding. A local community group recently delivered a reusable shopping bag to every house in my neighborhood to promote local holiday shopping. On the one hand all this interest in reusable bags is inspiring, but just like the story of Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” it also reveals the fundamental contradiction of the canvas tote phenomenon. Best intentions are almost immediately buried under an avalanche of conspicuous consumption and proliferation of choice. The environmental promise of reusable bags becomes pretty dubious when there are closets and drawers full of them in every home.
This contradiction can largely be traced back to the influence of graphic design. Once this gorgeous flat surface presented itself, it quickly became simply a substrate for messaging, branding, promotion, etc. Judging by the cost, producing one tote is roughly equivalent to producing 400 plastic bags. That’s fine if you actually use the tote 400 times, but what if you just end up with 40 totes in your closet? Once the emphasis shifts from reusing a bag to having a bag that reflects your status or personality, the environmental goal starts drifting out of sight.
I could not find any data on the subject of how much the use of canvas totes has decreased the number of plastic bags, but at best the totes can only be a catalyst for the act of reusing. Designers are correct in thinking that making a more appealing bag increases the likelihood that it will be reused, but the environmental benefit does not come from people acquiring bags. It comes from people reusing them. Successful attempts to reduce the number of plastic bags have all focused on (not surprisingly) depressing the consumption of plastic bags. For example, in 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. In 2002 they introduced what they called a PlasTax — 15 cents for every plastic bag consumed. The program reduced consumption of plastic bags in that country by 90%! This seems to undercut the whole strategy of selling canvas totes as a way to help the environment. Based on the Irish example, even a 15 cent price-tag might actually inhibit the use of canvas totes by 90%. In terms of actually reducing the number of plastic bags, programs like the one at IKEA which charges customers 5 cents per plastic bag and donates the proceeds to a conservation group are probably more likely to have an impact than selling a canvas alternative. The best thing for the environment is reuse and that can be accomplished just as easily by reusing plastic bags.
The canvas tote is a great example of the power and the paradox of design in a consumer society. On the one hand design has allowed for personal expression, and fantastic variation in an otherwise mundane object. Every well-designed tote has the potential to replace some of the estimated 1000 plastic bags that each family brings home every year. The aesthetic power of a single design raised more awareness about the impact of plastic bags on our environment than any government or non-governmental organization. On the other hand, it is unclear that a consumable can counteract the effects of consumption. The designs that make each bag unique contribute to an over-abundance of things that are essentially identical and the constant stream of newness discourages reuse. Just as the remarkable efficiency of the plastic bag ended up making it a menace to the environment, graphic design’s ability to generate options and choices may turn a sustainable idea into an environmental calamity.
Comments [40]
Too much of a good thing (even good intentions) inevitably leads to the opposite effect.
02.04.09
01:30
02.04.09
01:37
Of course, I can buy a box of plastic bags to have on hand for these occassions, and on the whole I think it is best to reduce their consumption. Mr. Siegel is nonetheless right to show potential or actual contradictions which will emerge in our attempts to live ethically - it ain't easy being green.
(One more picky issue that's admittedly easily solved - what about carrying meat or cleaning products in my reusable bag? The last thing our health needs is leaky chicken breast all over our burlap satchels.)
02.04.09
02:13
02.04.09
02:18
But if you should ever decide to design a tote just for the fun of it, a workshop that is both eco and friendly (if a little slow by latter-day Flash-enhanced Net standards) isThe Fabric Press. They don't exactly mass produce there. Every item you order is hand-made just for you.
Is there an ironic twist to all this? It's not so cheap you probably won't want to give the stuff away ...
02.04.09
02:32
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029
and that article is from 2007!
02.04.09
05:44
Of course the market is limited. Thrift stores get new blanks probably daily, but never enough. So its never going to completely cut out the new shirt cycle, but its a small step in sustainability that should be happening elsewhere.
Perhaps if you have too many canvas bags, we can start an overprint movement with those bags and continue this paradox unto another paradox.
02.04.09
07:01
02.04.09
07:26
02.05.09
05:49
02.05.09
07:38
02.05.09
07:39
I like them because they're sturdier than the plastic bags, with much better handles. I can easily carry four of them, which is enough for a normal shopping run for the week (assuming there's no toilet paper or other bulky items).
02.05.09
08:35
My neighbourhood grocery store stopped providing plastic bags altogether (if you don't count the baggies in the produce section). Now they offer "green" bags for 99¢. Between me and my two roommates (all students and bachelors), we often find ourselves out at the grocery store without our handy canvas bags. So we buy one more, because, hey, they're only a buck (less expensive than walking home to grab a bag). We have about 30 green bags under our sink.
For the grocery store, located in amidst a heavy student population, it's a PR opportunity, and more likely, a moneygrab. How many Mac and Cheese-scarfing 19 year olds are going to remember to bring their canvas handbags? How many student households have 30 green bags under their sinks?
02.05.09
08:58
02.06.09
12:53
02.06.09
03:08
Noticing the barrage of reusable bags out there, our agency decided to design one that we thought had "top of pile" value:
www.walrusnyc.com/work/?p=607
02.06.09
05:04
Then plastic bags came along. I did not recycle them (at the time, where?), so I said "paper" when asked.
Then, the reusable bags appeared. They are ugly. But if you bought enough food at one store I shop at, they gave you one free. Eventually, I had 5 of them.
So now I only use reusable bags. They are made from poly propylene (I think) with cloth like handles. Quite tough. Ugly. But who cares?
Now, the only time I use paper or plastic is when I forget my tote bags. Maybe, 1 out of 8 trips to the store. No big deal. I just use paper and recycle or plastic and recycle that too at the large chain that takes them back.
Like most Americans, I can only use a car to get groceries. I don't care what my bags look like. I suppose in 15 years, they will be retro looking.
02.07.09
07:18
The forgotten impact of plastic bags is the cultural deficit they have created. And as suggested in this article, perhaps this is what the tote bag offers. When things are meaningful to us we tend to hold on to them, and not just for environmental reasons.
This 'meaning' can be varied: from memories of grandma (hand made is better) to ego-driven status symbols (marc jacobs is better) and, yes, even eco-driven moral symbols (hand-picked organic cotton is better).
There's no guarantee we won't collect 200 different variteies of them. There's no guarantee we won't throw a few out. Nor is there a guarantee that we'll always have them handy and use a few plastic bags here and there.
Personally, I prefer to have a somewhat wasteful yet meaningful life, instead of a utterly wasteful and meaningless life.
02.09.09
08:16
02.09.09
01:41
Yep. Our current obsession with reusable bags is symbolic and absurd.
It's not so much our shopping bags that have a negative effect on the environment, but what we do with them. Day after day after day we fill them up with crap that we dont need.
We will never shop our way to a healthy planet. The assumption that we can is misguided to say the least.
02.19.09
06:35
I have a cabinet shelf devoted to totes, may not use them all, but I don't leave home without some. Always have some in the trunk, and there is always one quick-stuff pouch version in my pack. If you don't want to buy a quick stuff type, by all means, reuse plastic bags, as they stuff smaller than anything! I also save bread/veggie bags to reuse for produce, bulk, and yes, doggie doo.
Once we connect our daily actions with the real meaning (doing our part against environmental meltdown, instead of contributing to it), being bag ready is like tying shoelaces- you do it automatically.
And while still learning the habit, remember, if you carried it by hand to the check-out, you can carry it by hand out the door, and if it's more of a load, grab some plastic bags out of the recycling container at the entry to every grocery store. If you have an accumulation of totes, hand some off to parents/friends for their trunks and closets. We're human, we're adaptable, and we've only had plastic bags for a few decades. Let's get over it already.
02.19.09
01:53
Here are more:
What's really better? Paper cup or ceramic mug?
Every time you use a ceramic mug, you must wash it. You end up using dish soap which not only gets drained into the waterways, but ask yourself this...how is the soap manufactured and what about the plastic bottle that it comes in? And how about that sponge you used to wash it with? Also have you used the same ONE mug your ENTIRE life? Probably not. Think about the energy and resources it takes to create ceramic mugs.
Same questions apply for woven cotton towels vs. paper napkins.
Has anyone done research to find out the real environmental impact of both sides? This would be interesting to find out.
As Michèle Champagne stated:
Everything we have and make and do has an environmental impact.
I guess we just have to choose what's gentler to our planet. But are we truly informed about what's better?
02.24.09
03:57
03.09.09
06:22
03.09.09
06:23
03.09.09
07:38
03.10.09
10:23
04.01.09
03:45
05.23.09
09:36
http://www.kultura-extra.de/extra/feull/tueten/jute.jpg
This bag is a symbol for the green movement in germany and probably still in use by 100%-ecologists... (but totally "out";-)
10.12.09
08:31
"For example, in 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. In 2002 they introduced what they called a PlasTax — 15 cents for every plastic bag consumed. The program reduced consumption of plastic bags in that country by 90%! This seems to undercut the whole strategy of selling canvas totes as a way to help the environment. Based on the Irish example, even a 15 cent price-tag might actually inhibit the use of canvas totes by 90%."
How would the plastic tax decrease canvas tote usage? The tax certainly decreased the usage of plastic bags, so what are those Irish lugging their groceries home in? I would assume some type of reusable bag or cart, or bags in a cart.
Maybe the author doesn't understand the definition of "inhibit"?
11.17.09
01:03
If you know you're going shopping, bring some bags. Overestimate how many you will need. Keep some in the trunk of your car, or close to the door so you are less likely to forget them. It's not just about cache and being cool. It's about sustainability, it's about a planet that is not going out of style anytime soon, so we better take good care of it.
11.17.09
01:10
11.24.09
10:48
01.20.10
03:27
04.07.10
12:54
04.08.10
09:09
04.22.10
06:08
Every time I see a tote bag in a store, I have thought about its affects, use and history. I am glad to see an article written about it.
"...Graphic design’s ability to generate options and choices may turn a sustainable idea into an environmental calamity."
Fast forward a year later and this statement is absolutely true. The idea behind the tote bag is a great concept but people just end up not reusing the bag.
The best environmental practice I have seen yet (of paper, plastic or canvas) is that of a low budget grocery store, Bottom Dollar. They do not offer free plastic bags and instead provide boxes that the food was bulk packaged in. The store charges for plastic bags and also sells reusable tote bags. Whether this is a budgetary plan or environmental, more grocery stores should implement this action.
04.22.10
07:09
Admittedly, the plastic bag is harmful to the environment, particularly because of its proliferation. Regardless of my personal opinion towards canvas totes and whether I use them or not, the author makes a very good point when he says, "the environmental benefit does not come from people acquiring bags. It comes from people reusing them." Pointing out that mass production of canvas totes risks running into the same problem as the mass production of plastic bags is a very interesting observation, even if canvas is better for the environment. He is very correct in his statement, "it is unclear that a consumable can counteract the effects of consumption."
04.23.10
11:15
09.07.10
01:04
http://www.greensentiments.com
12.04.10
04:21