Around 46 million people across the UK are expected to have visited their local high street to go shopping over the last weekend in November, encouraged by so-called Black Friday sales. The projected spend in-store and online is forecast to reach close to £9 billion.
How much of a saving there is to be made on Black Friday is debated. But even if they are a way to get a head start on your Christmas shopping – and important for retail businesses – by encouraging people to buy things they don’t necessarily need Black Friday sales can have a detrimental impact on the environment.
In 2022, research estimated that 400,000 tons of CO₂ would be released into the atmosphere due to transportation associated with Black Friday in the UK that year. When considering the waste from packaging and the fact that up to 80% of Black Friday purchases end up in landfill after only one use, the damaging consequences of these mass sales become clear.
Clothes are, unsurprisingly, among the most popular items purchased during this period. Fashion is already the world’s second most polluting industry, accounting for up to 8% of global carbon emissions. On Black Friday, the carbon footprint of clothing sales is reportedly 72% higher than on any other day.
These statistics show that we need to consume more sustainably. The practices employed by the Victorians to mend, sell and reuse old clothing might offer us some valuable lessons this Black Friday.