How to make your Black Friday Eco-friendly
Its the day after Thanksgiving and here I sit not surfing through Amazon for Black Friday Deals but researching through the impacts that Sales and discounts have around us and how that comes back to bite us in the long run. And understanding that we are prisoners of our short-term temptations, I looked into how we can make the best out of the Sale that everyone is looking forward to and still be good to the planet. So here are my thoughts around making this day an Earth Friendly Black Friday.
History of Black Friday
Here is a little history behind Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving has been the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season since the late 19th century when President Abraham Lincoln designated the Thanksgiving holiday as the last Thursday in November. Most importantly, People began calling in sick the day after Thanksgiving so they could shop. Now its an official holiday for many, the difference we can make if we just come together for something. Let’s strive to make this Black Friday an Earth Friendly Black Friday.
Impacts of Black Friday Deals
70 years later, Hyper-consumerism poses one of the biggest threats to the planet, and flash sales lead to impulse buying, driven by the fear of a sell-out. The growth of fast fashion and mass unsustainable goods production has transformed the global business, encouraging shoppers to buy more by offering cheap prices through events like Black Friday Deals. Inevitably, adding to a spiral of overconsumption.
But what is the true cost of a good Black Friday Deal?
Now, let’s bite the bullet and talk about the end-life of the things we bring home. Where are all the things that we have bought so far in our life now? I have been learning about plastics and other trash in the ocean, and it’s massive. How much of that pollution is mine and how much of it is yours? Once I started seeing that, I couldn’t look away. Least we can do is be mindful of our consumption and take a step to make this Black Friday an Earth Friendly Black Friday
Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic ingestion and entanglement. Fish and other marine life often can’t tell the difference between plastic and food. Animals cannot digest plastics and if it fills their stomachs, they starve to death. “Dead Zones” are created by pollution, making impossible for marine or plant life in those zones. There are about 500 dead zones in the ocean, which covers a similar size as the United Kingdom.
What not to buy this Black Friday
1. Fast fashion
Steer clear of Fast Fashion. If it is mass produced, synthetic fiber clothing, no discount is good enough to buy that. It takes 200 years for polyester to decompose. Fashion is the third highest-polluting industry in the world. Three fifth of all clothing item we buy, ends up in the incinerator or landfill within a year after being produced. The apparel and footwear industries account for a combined estimate of 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Single use products
Single use products
Rather than bulk buying discounted disposable items, look for products you can use for many years. Approximately one truckload of plastic enters the ocean every single minute. Nine-tenths of all solid waste in the United States does not get recycled.
3. Plastics
It takes one plastic straw in the sea to hurt a turtle. Look for sustainable alternatives to any plastic product you are looking to buy. This includes shopping bags. It takes 500 years for average plastic products to decompose. Today there are varieties of alternative products that replaces plastics, like bamboo and other plant-based products, do a little research on them. Bamboo absorbs 5 times more carbon dioxide than similar plants and they are eco-friendly and 100% biodegradable.
4. Impulse purchase
If you wouldn’t buy it for full price, don’t buy it just coz it’s on sale. Simple.
It can be expensive, not to mention time-consuming to find sustainable eco-friendly products, but it is a small price to pay if you compare that to the impact it will have on the planet and its other dwellers. Wearing new outfits every week should not be the norm. Buying infrequently and buying planet-friendly products should be the norm. And we can make that happen if we initiate the change from ourselves.
It might be overwhelming to think about impacts of our trash but doing nothing about it makes no sense. We do not have to convert 100% vegan and go off the grid, just being thoughtful of what we are consuming and minimizing use of products that have negative impact to the planet will make huge impact too. If we are financially capable to buy black Friday deals, we have a responsibility to make sure we promote the good in this industry rather than the cheap thrills.
Future of Eco-friendly Consumer Market
We are moving towards the right direction though. There is a research on current shopping behavior of millennial shoppers and how they feel about fashion. Just over 76% of the 2,000 consumers surveyed for the report said that sustainability was either very or quite important to them when deciding which brands to buy. Nearly half (48%) of these groups say they have abandoned purchases because a brand or retailer does not fit with their values, while 46% of shoppers say they spend time researching ethical and sustainable brands to buy from. Interestingly, consumers surveyed between 18 and 38, men rated sustainability as slightly more important than women: 40% of men rated sustainability as very important, as compared with 33% of women shoppers.
This holiday season I recommend you reassess your plan a little bit and see where you can adjust, where can you go more green and where can you find alternatives. Buying it will feel good. More important than what you buy, will be what you didn’t.
Top 10 Eco-friendly brands
But everyone wants to save their hard earn money and buy something as the world goes for sale. I have researched brands that are constantly trying to be earth-friendly. To help myself and all to be earth-friendly this Black Friday & holidays, here are the top 10 eco-friendly brands that provide sustainable and eco-friendly Black Friday Deals:
1. Green Toys
All green Toys are made from recycled plastic milk jugs, packaged in recycled materials, and are printed with soy ink. Eco-friendly deals for your eco-baby.
2. Patagonia
Patagonia’s principle is all about going green. They’ve built repair centers around the world to increase the longevity of their products and lower their carbon footprint. In 2016, they pledged $10 million of their Black Friday sales to grassroots environmental groups dedicated to preserving and improving the planet.
3. Ikea
Ikea source close to 50 per cent of its wood from sustainable foresters and 100 per cent of its cotton from farms that meet the Better Cotton standards, which mandate reduced user of water, energy and chemical fertilizers and pesticides. IKEA has more than 700,000 solar panels powering its stores and plans to start selling them to customers in the UK. And they have great Black Friday deals
4. TOMS
TOMS has donated over 60 million shoes to children around the world. To increase their reach and help even more people, TOMS has since expanded to provide clean drinking water, eye services, and safe birth kits to communities in need around the globe. In addition to supporting people, all of their shoes (and even the shoeboxes) are made with sustainable, recyclable and vegan materials.
5. Beyond Meat
We can all agree that the biggest problem facing our generation is climate change. And the meat industry is one of the biggest contributors to this environmental crisis. Beyond Meat is shaking up the food industry by creating delicious, plant-based “meat” products that are better for human health, the environment, climate change and animals. It’s just as good as any burger I’ve ever had.
6. Lush Cosmetics
Lush is dedicated to eco-friendly products and practices, like creating solid shampoo bars to reduce packaging waste and offering free products to customers who bring in empty product packaging to recycle.
7. Seventh Generation
Seventh Generation is a cleaning products company that revolutionized the cleaning industry with eco-friendly cleaning products free of harmful toxins and chemicals. The company also recently topped Forbes’ annual “Best For The Environment” list, which highlights companies that go above and beyond standard green practices.
8. Imperfect produce
1 in 5 vegetables grown in the United States doesn't meet the cosmetic standards in grocery stores and are thrown away instead, even though they are otherwise perfectly fine. Imperfect produce brings these fruits and vegetables to the consumer at discounted price.Website
9. Earth Mode
All Earth Mode products are made from sustainable resources like bamboo, hemp and organic cotton, which are 100% biodegradable and eco-friendly. Their organic hemp socks are perfect holiday gift which will last for years and will biodegrade in months. This will be one gift that keeps giving. They are constantly researching for alternatives to products that are essential to current day and age but are made with materials that are harmful to the environment.
Website
10. Apple
Apple may not be the first company that come to mind when we think green, but they’ve made some serious contributions to environmental change and might be a good alternative to switch to. In 2015, they signed a nearly $1 billion deal with First Solar, the largest developer of solar farms in the US. Using their technology, Apple powers all of its California stores, offices, data centers and headquarters with solar energy, making it the largest solar procurement deal for a non-utility company in history. Apple is also focused on the sustainability of their products and packaging. The Apple Renew program encourages recycling of old or used Apple devices, and 99% of the paper in their packaging is recycled or sustainable.
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Just because it is Black Friday, does not mean that you have to make a purchase. However, if you do make use of the Black Friday deals, make sure you are looking for Sustainable and Eco-friendly deals. Make this Black Friday an Earth-Friendly Black Friday. It might be a few dollars extra to you to buy green alternatives, but it will go a long way in saving the planet.
Comment below how you plan to make this Black Friday an Earth-Friendly Black Friday. Don’t forget to add sustainable gift ideas and how would you plan the holiday shopping a little more Greener this year.
Stay tuned for more Eco-friendly holiday tips.
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1 Comment
Nice one!! Go green with echo-friendly recycled products!