A protester tries to enter the Breeze Center in Taipei July 9, 2007, in an effort to get to the Anya Hindmarch store.
環保人士七月九日至台北市微風廣場抗議，試著進入大門到Anya Hindmarch專櫃抗議。
taiwannews

Activists say security guards barred their entry to shopping center

By Hermia Lin
Taiwan News, Staff Reporter
Page 3
2007-07-10 03:15 AM

A protester tries to enter the Breeze Center in Taipei July 9, 2007, in an effort to get to the Anya Hindmarch store.


More than 10 environmental activists yesterday staged a protest in front of the Breeze Center to express their environmental beliefs, which triggered a physical clash with shopping mall security guards.
Thousands of shoppers last Friday had a fierce fight over the limited edition of the eco-friendly shopping bags created by British designer Anya Hindmarch in five department stores across the island, including the Breeze Center.

A riot almost broke out in the Breeze Center as shoppers clashed with shop clerks, kicked each other, fell down on each other, and broke shop windows when they rushed to the shopping counter for the NT$500 eco-friendly designer bag.

Carrying non-famous-brand eco-friendly shopping bags on their back, over 10 advocates from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union and the Homemaker's Union and Foundation yesterday morning raised banners at the front door of the Breeze Center, attempting to make a plea to Center managers to demonstrate that eco-friendly shopping bags do not necessarily have to be marketed by famous brands.

"Fake eco-friendly shopping bags, true marketing," "Practicing eco-awareness is fashion. Let eco-awareness be its true brand," protesters shouted at the scene.

Environmental advocates tried to enter the department, but they were immediately pulled away by security guards. The two groups of people jostled with each other, sparking tension at the compound.

"Private entrepreneurs still have the responsibility to promote an eco-friendly policy. The good intention of promoting eco-friendly shopping bags has been reduced to a business trick, and has resulted in serious physical injuries among consumers, said Yen Mei-chuan, chairwoman of the Homemaker's Union and Foundation.

She called on to the manager of the Breeze Center to come forward and think about how to educate the public to prevent the same situation from happening again.

Wu Hui-li, one of the advocates, told reporters that several doormen pushed them and barred them from entering the shopping center.

"I explained to them that we are here to promote eco-friendly ideas," Wu said, "But the security guards told us the store is theirs, and we are not welcome to enter the store," Wu said.

The demonstrators were later dispersed by the police.

Wu said that while the advocates left the department store, a man was stalking them, taking pictures of them, and said some threatening words. The advocates immediately reported the case to the nearby police station, Wu said, adding that if the Breeze Center does not offer an apology to the advocates, they will launch a boycott campaign against the Breeze Center.

Anya Hindmarch unveiled her eco-friendly canvas shopping bag, with the words "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" emblazoned on it, in the United Kingdom in April, but they were not available in Hong Kong and Taiwan until last Friday. The limited edition of the shopping bags were sold at NT$500 each, but Internet sales have put the price of each bag at NT$20,000 in Taiwan.

◆FEATURE: Environmentalists pan `eco-friendly' bag



By Shelley Shan
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2007, Page 2

Ho Tsung-hsun, left, head of an environmental advocacy group, tells Jason Tsai, a representative of Breeze Center, yesterday that the mall should use the phrase ``eco-friendly'' as a means of safeguarding the environment, not just selling products.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Environmentalists gathered at the entrance of the Breeze Center in Taipei yesterday morning, criticizing the shopping mall over its handling of the sale of Anya Hindmarch's eco-friendly bags last Friday.

Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), secretary general of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union and organizer of the protest, said the fashion company should also be held responsible for the chaos last week.

"Given that hundreds of customers have already lined up in front of the store the night before the sale, the company should have marked a clear route for the line to move smoothly and peacefully," he said. "Their marketing strategy is definitely eco-unfriendly."

Ho also said that the company could have done better than simply tell the public that "It's Not a Plastic Bag" -- the slogan printed on the front of the Anya Hindmarch bags.

He said that consumers have no way of telling how the bag was made, or whether the manufacturing process was as eco-friendly as it claimed.

Carrying dozens of plain, eco-friendly shopping bags with them, Ho and representatives from other nongovernmental organizations demanded a chance to speak with the fashion company's agents in Taiwan, but they were stopped at the entrance by the mall's security guards.

Yesterday's protest was but a reflection of the growing dissatisfaction among environmentalists over the issue of protecting the environment.

For Sandra Peng (彭渰雯), representative of the Taiwan Environmental Action Network, the stampede outside the Anya Hindmarch stores last Friday was hard to forget.

"I was speechless when I saw people fighting for the eco-friendly shopping bags on TV," she told the Taipei Times. "I was thinking -- `Well, if only the same number of enthusiasts were committed to protecting the environment.'"

While Peng agreed that the public should be informed about the urgent need for environmental protection, she noted the fundamental conflict that exists between encouraging consumption and preserving the environment.

"I really doubt that anyone bought the bag for the sake of protecting the Earth," she said, adding that she was aware that some bought the bags in hopes of selling them later at a higher price.

The fact that anyone would spend NT$500 to show that he or she is an eco-friendly shopper is something Lim Hak-yan (林學淵), executive director of Taiwan Agenda 21, cannot understand.

"Do you know how many eco-friendly shopping bags I have in my house? More than 20," he said, adding that they were all given free under various occasions.

Lim said his shopping bags were made from various materials -- from used plastic bottles to other biodegradable substance.

"To be honest, I think it [the sale] was all part of a marketing strategy to encourage buying," he said. "It had nothing to do with environmental protection."

Like Ho, Lim also questioned if the company had informed consumers how the bag was produced and whether a portion of the revenue generated from the bag's sales would be used to sponsor other environmental protection campaigns.

Eight buyers were injured while struggling to get one of the bags.

The bags are available in limited quantities worldwide. Less than 1,000 were appropriated for sales in Taiwan last Friday.

On the same day, chaos also marred sales of the bags in Hong Kong. News reports showed that although the stores had informed the waiting customers that all bags had been sold, many refused to leave and vowed to stay in line until they got one.

Controversies have dogged the bag since it was first released in Britain. A BBC News broadcast on March 14 showed "We Are What We Do," an activist group that coordinated with the company in the campaign to encourage the reuse of shopping bags, was upset to find the product selling for ?175 (US$351) on eBay. The bag originally retailed at ?5.

A statement at the official Web site of Anya Hindmarch stated that the company wanted to use its influence to "make it fashionable not to use plastic bags."

"This bag [I'm Not A Plastic Bag] is a stylish, practical reusable alternative that we hoped would raise awareness of wasted packaging and spark debate," it said.

The statement further claimed that the bag was made in China, adding that its supplier there paid its workers twice the minimum wage and complied fully with Chinese labor laws.

The statement added that carbon emitted during the production and freight is offset by the carbon credits it has purchased, but did not provide details on how much carbon was actually produced during the manufacturing process.
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