Black Friday. That time of year when the pressure is put upon us to bag the best deal and grab those discounts, because they’ll never be as heavily discounted as they are on Black Friday *cough* fake news *cough*.
Not only do most of us feel so obliged to succumb to the offers put in front of us, whether it be Instagram, targeted Facebook ads or the mic on your phone subconsciously listening in and pushing those items you were thinking of directly into your feed.
It is important to remember that we are very much in a climate crisis, so is really buying that extra pair of polyester neon-pop socks necessary even though they are 50p? Think of not only the life of that product but also the wildlife, when they end up in landfill half-way across the world in 5 years time.
If you do happen to get sucked into the Black Friday madness and pro-marketing tactics, don’t fret!
Follow our 3-step guide below to help you make the best purchases, if any at all.
Photo by Olena Sergienko on Unsplash
Stop. Breathe. Take Check.
If you’ve been lured in by the beautiful photoshoot, the heavy 45% discount and you make it to checkout. Just stop. Take a moment and think. Breathe. Then think again. Ask yourself:
- “is this going to change my life?”
- “can I live without this purchase?”
- “Would I rather use this money and put it towards something more luxurious that I can use as a ‘forever-piece’?”
- “Will I wear this/use this in 5 years time?”
- “If I only see this as a short-term purchase, can I recycle it or re-purpose it?”
- “Unwanted purchases end up affecting everyone and everything. Think of the Orangutans.”
Image by Hermes Riviera @ Unsplash
Think of our Environment
A lot of us are very quick to make an impulse purchase because we ‘need’ to grab that deal! But how invested are we in the purchases we actually make?
How committed are we to making the most of the items we buy and ensuring they don’t end up in landfill.
Most physical products purchased during Black Friday are only use a few times and discarded without care. These unwanted purchases end up in landfill for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Please be conscious of your purchases and only really buy them if you need them or if it will change someone else’s life.
The Ultimate? Don’t Buy Anything.
Sorry to burst the Black Friday bubble, but it sounds so obvious, doesn’t it? Abstaining from purchasing anything is the best way to be as eco-conscious and financially frugal this Black Friday. The best deal you could ever get in life is realising you don’t need to purchase a single thing. Everything you need is inside you.
