23rd November 2023
This Friday is Black Friday – a widely advertised event that lasts at least for a week! – when retailers encourage us spend more on so called ‘bargains’. It seems as if the whole purpose of human existence is to shop. But shopping for the sake of shopping – consumerism for the sake of consumerism – is highly destructive of the environment and undermines the essence of being human which is about relationship with our neighbours.
The following extract comes from a pertinent Guardian report: “It’s forecast that this month and next, a record £9.5bn will be blown on advertising, more than the UK government spends on prisons in a year. This is the philosophy of “spending like there’s no tomorrow” – literally, given the climate crisis.
Black Friday.” (1)
But it doesn’t have to be this way and we can be part of the transformation. Make this Friday a Buy Nothing Day! Display a Buy Nothing poster on your garden gate, front window etc. For more info and posters visit http://buynothingday.co.uk/
This article from a few years ago focuses on the huge amount of waste that Black Friday and Cyber Monday produce – https://greentau.org/2021/11/29/green-tau-issue-24/
The Green Tau 