Keep Britain Tidy has warned that Black Friday (29 November) – an American import that happens on the Friday after Thanksgiving and sees Brits spend about £3 billion – encourages us to increase our consumption with the promise of hefty discounts at a time when we need to be reducing the amount of ‘stuff’ we buy for the sake of the environment.
Along with Cyber Monday and the start of the Christmas shopping frenzy, Black Friday has helped make November the month of rampant consumerism.
A YouGov poll on behalf of the charity reveals that while 54% of adults have made a Black Friday purchase, 70% agree the event promotes excessive consumption of goods and 42% agree it is bad for the environment.
The poll also revealed that there is a growing awareness of the planetary impact of buying new items, with half of UK adults agreeing that Black Friday contributes to landfill waste and 41% believing it creates excess carbon emissions.
The global adoption of Black Friday means its carbon footprint has rocketed in recent years. In 2020, the CO2 emissions related to the home delivery of Black Friday purchases was an estimated 429,000 metrics tonnes in the UK alone.
To encourage people to make better choices for the environment in the face of the Black Friday marketing onslaught, Keep Britain Tidy launched its award-winning Buy Nothing New Month campaign (01-30 November) to encourage people to save their pennies and the planet.
This follows the charity’s unveiling of a newly designed and tested version of the waste hierarchy as part of fresh guidance to help the industry better educate the public about waste prevention and mindful consumption and urgently accelerate the UK’s transition to a circular economy.
‘The waste our nation generates is a huge issue all year round, but is exacerbated at this time of year, as seemingly large discounts persuade people to buy items they don’t need and can’t always afford.
‘The public are awakening to the idea that this level of consumerism is environmentally and economically unsustainable. Today’s figures show that people are ready take up the challenge to ‘buy nothing new’ for a month – and that could make all the difference to our planet.’ALLISON OGDEN-NEWTON OBE
Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive
The charity’s research reveals 58% of UK adults who have made a Black Friday purchase – more than 16 million – borrowed money on a credit card, while 14% used flexible payment options and 6% turned to store credit.
16% said, after purchasing a Black Friday item, they realised it wasn’t as good a deal as they thought it was and 8% admitted they did not really need the item anyway.
The charity believes there is a growing public appetite to rethink the way we shop and consider the environmental cost.
In fact, 63% of UK adults think campaigns like Buy Nothing New Month are a good idea as they encourage alternatives to buying new, such as reusing, repairing or buying preloved – or abstaining from buying ‘stuff’ in the first place.
Brits suffering from ‘Phone-mo’ feel pressure to upgrade to latest smartphone, despite damage to their wallets and the environment.
Fashion Revolution’s Black Friday campaign calls for the fashion industry to end overproduction and discount culture.
Give up the throwaway lifestyle: buy nothing and join MAKE SMTHNG Week instead.
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