It’s Black Friday – the day of the year where we all lose our heads at the sight of a sale sign and rush to buy more things we don’t need. Even worse for those of us sat at out computer screens, we’re inundated with emails and pop ups as every businesses under the sun tries to sell us this, that and the other.
Whilst we all love a good deal on our favourite products, the environmental impacts of Black Friday are undoubtedly quite serious and it is up to us to be responsible consumers while bargain hunting.
So we’ve come up with a list of easy things you can do to make sure you aren’t contributing to the vast amounts of waste being sent to landfill when you buy today and over the Black Friday weekend.
1.) Buy refurbished electronics
Electronic waste is predicted to reach 65.4 million tons by the end of 2017 and Black Friday is the biggest day of the year for buying new gadgets. You can find refurbished iPhones, laptops, tablets and more that are restored to perfect working order for less than half the price of their brand new originals. Now that’s a deal! Check out sites like envirofone.com.
2.) Use reuse sites
Looking for new clothes? The fashion industry was responsible for the emission of 1,715m tons of CO2 in 2015, about 5.45% of the 32.1bn tons of global carbon emissions in 2015. So it’s important to buy clothes that will last and look out for second hand buys where possible! Check out sites like eBayand reuse apps like Depop where there are thousands of on trend clothes for a much cheaper price than on the high street – and you can find unique pieces not available anywhere else! Here’s an even better idea – why not make some money this Black Friday (instead of losing it) by selling some of your own clothes online?
3.) Buy items with recyclable packaging
Every year during the Christmas period over 300,000 tonnes of cardboard packaging is thrown away! So if you’re splashing out this black Friday make sure to buy products that a) come in packaging that is recyclable and b) remember to recycle it when you’re done!
4.) Reduce
There is a reason reduce is at the top of the waste hierarchy – because you make the least damage to environment when you reduce the amount you buy. Every item bought has a carbon footprint behind it so think about what you buy, whether you really need it and how you plan to make it last so that it won’t end up in landfill within a couple of months.
