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Have you heard? The “It Bag” is dead, so no more paying a thousand million dollars for a handbag, okay? It’s a momentous occasion for the poor and jaded who enjoy this blog, and it’s got me thinking.

Certainly one reason for this latest fashion occurrence is the glut of “must-have” bags that nobody can afford anyway, but I’m pretty sure that another part of it is the emerging “sustainable” fashion industry. Sparked by a growing public disdain for polluting plastic, eco-friendly companies have flooded the market with highly accessible, cute totes in cute colors (often stamped with sassy, greener-than-thou slogans), which are suddenly so chic.

I get it. I like them too, and I find myself longing for them. I mean, just today I fell for the adorable and reversible chambray tote from BYOB pictured above.

And that burning desire brings me to my major qualm about this phenomenon. I fear we’ll be charmed into collecting tons of these bags, which are often cheap and irresistible. And if we do that, then aren’t we just kicking the environment in the shins?

Isn’t the idea that we’re suppose to be trying to consume less instead of producing more and more and more and more? And don’t we run the very high risk of going overboard and over-consuming these non-plastic bags?

After all, we are Americans, and thus insane.

–V. Thread