Promoting Black Friday as a newbie sustainable fashion influencer is something to seriously consider. One of the reasons I want to make a change is that I’m frustrated by my constant need to consume and that I’ve been treating clothing as if they were disposable: “Don’t like it anymore? Just buy something new!” I’m not the only one…
Some harsh numbers…
Did you know that 26% of clothing gets disposed of simply because we don’t like it anymore? And that 80% of discarded textiles are doomed for the landfill or incineration, meaning they get dumped or get burned, which releases all kinds of toxins and gases into the atmosphere. All this after an average of only 7 (!) wears.
The environment doesn’t only suffer because of our disposing behaviour, but also due to unnecessary transportation: “Not in the mood to check and measure sizes? I’ll just order 3 sizes and send 2 back!” And there goes yet another DHL truck and maybe even a plane.
Overconsuming during Black Friday
During Black Friday, a lot of overconsuming happens. ‘Too good to resist’ promotions can quickly arouse the need to buy and a lot of impulsive purchases happen. I don’t know about you, but I’m going crazy over all these posts, newsletters and pop-ups telling me that ‘This Friday is my only chance to buy with major discounts!’. It definitely creates FOMO and makes me want to increase my credit card limit. But then I think of the questions.
If the answers are yes and if the item I have my eye on is made fairly and sustainably, it’s a go. I think that in the end it’s about our own consuming behavior and the demand we create as consumers. So I guess shopping during Black Friday doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as you really do it consciously and sustainably. Like really, big exclamation point!
In the next post you’ll find some great offers from sustainable brands. A few brands also do something different during Black Friday, like donating and planting trees, which is amazing!
