The U.S. launch of Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m not a Plastic Bag” created a lot of buzz on June 20th. The event attracted over 400 eager shoppers - many of whom were lined up around the block well before the store’s 11am opening - and at least 10 reporters. The SoHo location sold out of their entire stock of 800 bags at $15 each, and within three hours, the bag had sold out at every Anya Hindmarch boutique in the U.S.

When the bag was released in England earlier this year, 200,000 were sold out in 7 hours.

One blog reported that the top bid on E-bay for the UK edition of the bag was $400.

Designer Anya Hindmarch partnered with “We Are What We Do,” a UK activism group that encourages people to help change the world within the scope of their daily activities, and bag is meant to inspire people to reduce their use of plastic bags. Each year, 100 billion plastic shopping bags are used in the U.S. alone, and billions end up as litter and in landfills, which can take hundreds of years to break down.

Whenever a product becomes such an immediate sensation, it inevitably sparks controversy. Among other things, it was reported that the bags were not made from organic cotton, and were not fair trade. According to Time Magazine, Hindmarch’s response was, “the message of We Are What We Do is that by changing the small things you do in everyday life you can make a large difference. Her company, she said, worked with a reputable supplier in China whose workers are paid double the minimum wage and that complies with Chinese Labor Law. And the bags were shipped by sea, and carbon credits were purchased to offset the environmental impact of production and transport.”

The bag will be sold at the following Whole Foods store locations on July 18th: Bowery NYC, Chelsea NYC, Columbus Circle NYC, Union Square NYC, Jericho NY, Manhasset NY, White Plains NY, Greenwich CT, Edgewater NJ, Madison NJ, Milburn NJ, Middletown NJ, Montclair NJ, Ridgewood NJ, and West Orange NJ.