Black Friday is the time of year that marks the official start of the holiday season with shopping. Known for its great deals and shopping frenzy, Black Friday used to be exciting, and highly anticipated, but ever since the pandemic the traditional in-store shopping has come to a low.
Since then, the newly fanged Cyber Monday has taken over. Cyber Monday, like Black Friday, is the day for shopping, but instead of going in-store you can shop online, and it starts the Monday after Thanksgiving.
A lot of people feel like it because the deals are so good they overspend. This is usually called impulse buying or FOMO which stands for fear of missing out. Buying unnecessary items can lead to excess waste.
When things were so cheap a lot of people didn’t mind just throwing away whatever they bought. Especially when it comes to buying things online. For example, fast fashion companies like Shein and AliExpress always have products at low prices, and if you have ever watched a Shien Hall, you’ve probably heard a casual “I’m throwing this out” During the video since the product didn’t meet their standards. Black Friday and Cyber Monday stimulate this wasteful consumerism process but on a mass scale.
Not to mention that Cyber Monday also contributes to carbon emissions due to the manufacturing, packaging, and mailing process. “Fast fashion is responsible for around 10% of global carbon emissions…” (Hivenet.org).
So, what are the alternatives? A few years ago, a company that sells outdoor furniture called REI announced that they would be closed on Black Friday. Companies can take a stand and refuse to be a part of the binary by deciding not to participate during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
In addition to this people can celebrate Black Friday with alternatives like Green Friday where some people choose to not go shopping at all and instead participate in environmentally friendly activities like going to the park. There is also the Blue Friday alternate where you can shop at local businesses that have a much smaller carbon footprint than big corporations.
