Via the excellent blog EastSouthWestNorth, we were alerted to a clever advertising scheme gone sour – major apparel manufacturer Semir ran a series of ads following the theme, “I can’t _______, but at least I look good [in my hot Semir gear].” But they took the theme a bizarre step too far with an ad featuring an image of a youth listening to music, with overlying text saying “I can’t do anything about global warming, but at least I look good” (我管不了全球变暖，但至少我好看).

In other fashion-meets-environmentalism news, a recent foray into Yaxiu revealed that the trend of “I am not a plastic bag” bags has fully landed in China. Yes, Anya Hindmarch’s limited-edition bags that both identified the environmental-consciousness of the wearer and made a fashion statement (a poor one, but that doesn’t negate the good intentions) are now readily available in counterfeit form.

But here’s another option – Walmart, which we hate only slightly less than McDonalds, has now gained a few points in our book by promoting canvas bags instead of plastic. At checkout at Walmart (at least the Wanda Plaza location), customers are now offered beige canvas bags with a green slogan (supporting environmental protection starts with me, 支持环保，从我做起).

The bag costs RMB 3 instead of a free plastic bag. They’re even fairly cute. And if you visit Walmart five times using this bag, declining to use plastic, you receive a free back cushion. A strange bonus, but we like free stuff. And the environment.

Links and Sources
EastSouthWestNorth: But at least I look good!
Inhabitat.com: Eco-Trend: I’m not a plastic bag!