Australia's latest fashion accessory

A new fashion accessory is gracing the arms of people across the nation since I've been gone. Its the go-green reuseable shopping bag and its everywhere. While I was initially delighted at this apparent sudden interest in plastic bag reduction, a little research into them has taken the shine off my delight somewhat. These bags are still very much plastic despite having a fake woven pattern and feel to them, and they are made in China. Now if the government was going to be smart about it, when they threatened to bring in a plastic bag levy (one of the reasons use of the go-green bag has taken off) they would have made sure there was a viable Australian made alternative. The fact that its still made of plastic can be rationalised by the fact that we are now using only one of them each year rather than 473 of the old single use bags. They do wear out however after about 3 years, and the real proof about how serious we are will become clear when they start wearing out and we have to make the effort to recycle them, or just throw them out.
Furthermore the only reason the major retailers are behind the go-green bags is because they are helping their bottom line; they make about 30 cents from each bag sold and reduce costs by having to use less of the old single use bags. And I've read reports where supermarkets are pretending they are out of single use bags in order to force people to buy the go-green ones.
Despite these things, this bag is still a win for the environment, as it has reduced the use of the old single use bags and that can only be a good thing. The bag itself is actually very good, its sturdy, holds more than the old bags, but you do have to remember to take it to the store. As for its contribution to Australian fashion, well, I'm not so sure about that.