I am probably in a minority but I find Black Friday very annoying and a royal waste of time.
For the past few years I chose to travel during the last week of November to escape the frenzy in this country around over consumption of food and goods. People in western countries veil their purchases under the name of 'holiday gifts' while in other countries and cultures which do not celebrate Christmas, it is a "celebration" of buying things for the sake of buying things. It fuels unnecessary consumption of goods, the environment takes a hit. Might I mention there are some non-consumer goods gift options available which might be good for the environment and also very practical. I have shared them at the end of this post.Until few years back Black Friday was restricted to United States (and may be Canada?) but in the last decade this American phenomena has made its way around the globe. And now the level of consumption we have in the world is totally unsustainable.
“The problem is the environmental impact of the production, transport and waste created by these products,” said Viola Wohlgemuth, a Greenpeace Germany campaigner focusing on over-consumption.To my relief I recently learned about an alternative called - Buy Nothing Day - an international day of protest against consumerism. Buy Nothing Day was founded in Vancouver by artist Ted Dave.
Even without knowing I have been participating in Buy Nothing Dayfor the last few years. While I would love to everyone to just change their behavior like an ON/OFF switch but I know that's not a realistic expectations. Hence, the below suggestions:
- paying for someone's insurance,
- making a contribution towards someone's education fund,
- investing in someone's name,
- dinner at a favorite restaurant
- an overnight retreat
- concert or show tickets
- Audiobooks
- or even just giving good old hard cash. What's better than real money? Only, more money!
Companies won’t change unless we do!
1) Plan ahead and consolidate orders so that everything arrives in fewer shipments;2) Avoid expedited shipping (even if it’s free);3) Buy less stuff.And that's that.
