Black Friday and Cyber Monday are largely popular with consumers because of the huge deals that company’s offer. However, it seems people forget about climate change and overconsumption during this period. Small businesses who can’t afford to offer the same number of deals as large organisations, are left in the dust when the big corporations are only trying to sell leftovers that they’ve bought too much of in the past, by sticking them on sale.
The two days effectively leave a large carbon footprint. The carbon emissions from shopping this year’s Black Friday sale is expected to produce 429,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from product deliveries alone – that’s the same as 435 return flights from London to New York. One of the most common Black Friday purchases is clothing and a Green Alliance survey claims that after a very brief lifespan, 80% of gadgets, apparel, and the plastic packaging they are encased in end up in landfills, incinerators, or at best low-quality recycling.
To prevent a climatic collapse, the best method to close the climate gap when it comes to the environmental effects of consumer products is to repair, choose used items, and where necessary, purchase from more environmentally friendly businesses. This is why as a sustainable business; it would be hypocritical of us to have a black Friday sale on our vintaged second-hand goods.
People tend to think Black Friday is good because of the sales will surely get rid of stock. However, again its to do with the overconsumption of buying goods that are probably not needed and companies tend to overstock themselves in preparation for the sales to make a profit.
Black Friday is similar to fast fashion in promoting mass production and consumerism and a lot of things will only get used a few times before being discarded which is a no go from Kelham Vintage. We believe in high quality clothing that is made to last and pass on so everyone can get the benefits of wearing it without throwing it.
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