Black Friday refers to the sales day which takes place the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. However, this date has been imported into France since 2013 and is a hit! Every year, thousands of French people rush to the stores in the hope of buying interesting items or doing Christmas shopping at a lower cost. Even if the concept seems attractive at first glance, it nevertheless remains an environmental and ethical disaster! In this article, we explain to you why this date should be banned and why we do not want to participate in it.
Black Friday pushes overconsumption
Overconsumption, as its name suggests, is buying more products than necessary and buying more than one's purchasing power allows. Today, we are constantly pushed to buy. Advertisements everywhere, attractive newsletters, promotions... Absolutely everything leads us to buy more than necessary. Even holidays and celebrations are levers for overconsumption, as is the case for Valentine's Day, Christmas or even, even more ironically, Women's Rights Day.
We buy, often not out of real need but out of incentive, out of temptation. Marketing constantly pushes us to buy, even products that we will probably never use.
The problem with overconsumption is that it leads to disastrous situations: debt, compulsive purchases, guilt, fear of running out of money and therefore the search for fruitful work which makes us unhappy in counterpart, poor industrial supply due to lack of time and money, etc.
Black Friday is an ecological disaster
Every year, on a single day, millions of purchases are made around the world for Black Friday. This means that, for online purchases (the majority of which are made there), there are millions of packages prepared and sent to the four corners of the world. This causes considerable pollution (plastic and non-recyclable materials in most packaging, transport pollution, package returns, etc.).
Black Friday contributes, as said earlier, to overconsumption and thus causes a lot of unnecessary purchases. This means that many consumers buy something, pile it up with other items and sometimes don't even use it at all. Many products therefore often end up in the trash and are not even recyclable, which is problematic because it pollutes our planet enormously!
The most purchased items during Black Friday concern the textile industry. However, this is the 2nd most polluting sector in the world after oil. According to the ADEME (Agency for the Environment and Energy Management) website, it alone generates about 1.2 billion tons of CO2 per year, which is more than both air and maritime transport combined! The speed and mass production of the textile industry allow many brands to sell their products at unbeatable prices to encourage purchases. This, without forgetting that the working conditions to carry out these productions are often disastrous.
Of course, it is important to remember that many fashion brands are committed to producing locally, ethically and ecologically. However, they still remain in the minority compared to the giants of the sector. Black Friday is therefore disastrous for the good of the planet. Not to mention that purchases do not only concern the textile industry on this date: household appliances, IT, makeup, gadgets, etc.
Black Friday kills small independent stores
Those who benefit the most from Black Friday undoubtedly remain the marketing giants as well as the many well-known brands. They have phenomenal production and can afford to sell their items without problem, whether in their physical store or online. Many people will therefore naturally buy from them, firstly for the attractive prices and secondly for their reputation (and we do not blame them since that is quite understandable).
However, there are a lot of small physical stores or self-employed people who sell independently and on a local scale. They find themselves at a disadvantage compared to the giants because they often produce fewer sales. This is indeed not profitable and above all viable for them! For online stores, some also find themselves competing with virtually free shipping costs, as does the American giant Amazon, among others.
La Bougie Herbivore’s commitments against Black Friday
The values of La Bougie Herbivore
Since our beginnings, our desire has been to create quality, beautiful and above all natural, ecological and vegan products with our hands. Each candle and composition created requires work from us and it is unthinkable for us to sell off our products in the name of Black Friday. This would mean for us to undervalue our creations and therefore our work. What we want is for you to buy our products because you want quality, really want it and need it.
Our participation in the Green Friday movement
This year again, we have joined the collective Make Friday Green Again. This collective brings together more than 2,000 brands that are committed against Black Friday in order to combat the ecological disasters of this date. A petition has been created by the collective to show our willingness to find an alternative to Black Friday with the State. Everyone can sign it, whether you are a brand, an association, a citizen… The more signatures there are, the more likely the French government will discover it and take action. So don’t hesitate to go sign it!
This article is not intended to make you feel guilty if you purchased during Black Friday, but to make you aware of the damage that this can cause in a single day. Buy if you are sure you will get a return on your purchase, if you really need it. But learn to question yourself, to question your consumption habits to try to improve them little by little. If everyone gets involved, we can considerably reduce pollution and the effects of Black Friday. Maybe one day this date will even be deleted, who knows?
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