Black Friday. The day where social media, emails, shop windows and more are all filled with ‘unbeatable deals’ in the Black Friday sales.

What started out as an American post-Thanksgiving tradition has now turned into an international sensation. I mean, who doesn’t love a bargain? But Black Friday isn’t all great deals and happy shoppers – there’s a dark side to it that is overlooked.

I think we can all put our hands up and say that we’ve once bought something – not because we needed it, but because the offer was ‘too good to miss’. Whether that be a pair of shoes that you really don’t need, or a blender that is going to sit in the cupboard and never get used. These items will sit there, barely touched, until the day we finally have a clear out, when they get thrown away for no real reason other than we didn’t need it anyway.

However, it’s that mindset that makes Black Friday the time for a detrimental impact on our environment. In fact, a 2019 study by Green Alliance found that up to 80% of Black Friday purchases, including their packaging, end up discarded after only a few uses – some without being used at all. These unwanted, cheap goods, crafted from poor-quality and unsustainable materials, find their way to landfills or meet their end in incinerators.