Eco-bag farce

AN “environmentally friendly” bag that is the latest fashion must-have has been slammed by green campaigners.

The cotton beige carry-all, emblazoned with the words “I am not a plastic bag” was shipped from CHINA to Britain to be sold at Sainsbury’s.

Twenty thousand were snapped up within an hour of going on sale earlier this week — with some women queuing from 3am to get one. But the bags are made using cheap labour in China — and thousands of litres of fuel have been used to get them here.

Campaigners said Sainsbury’s “green” credentials had been damaged. But the company hit back, saying the bags had not been flown from China, to reduce the environmental impact.

And it said it had bought “carbon credits” — a worldwide industrial scheme to reduce greenhouse gases. A spokesman added: “Our intention was to create a reusable bag that eliminated plastic bags.”

The £5 accessory was created by designer Anya Hindmarch with the We Are What We Do movement to help cut the number of plastic carriers used in Britain.