BLACK FRIDAY SALES 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
This year we've made the decision to hold off dispatching any orders for the week until Monday 5th December.
Why?
Online sales will be high this weekend and next week due to Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales. Delivery services will be to the max, and Royal Mail are on strike 24th, 25th, 30th November, 1st December. Recent Royal Mail strikes on non-sales days saw our local Post Office overwhelmed, and the Parcel Postboxes jammed and overspilling.
The combination of both the sales and the multiple strike days foresees a difficult time for our local Post Offices. We want to give Post Office staff and the Royal Mail workers a chance to resume their services, and reduce the chance of loss and damage to items in the post.
Why not use other couriers?
We use Royal Mail to deliver our orders as they have existing delivery routes, which allows us to keep the carbon footprint to a minimum. With the strikes, Royal Mail workers are struggling to be heard. If we were all to stop business with Royal Mail, they will suffer from greater losses.
During sales periods, delays with other couriers will be inevitable anyway, as they will also be extremely busy.
Should I shop on Black Friday?
As the cost of the living crisis continues to grow, sales such as Black Friday can be a welcoming time, as it allows us to buy bigger purchases at discounted prices.
However, Black Friday sales are not a sustainable model, and so we must be very careful that we don't get caught up with buying things we don't actually need, just because it is on a supposed 'offer'! Let's face it, we've all done it, it's all too easy to feel like the offer is too good to miss, but then you realise you don't even need the product nor will you ever use it!
There is a huge environmental impact with Black Friday sales:
- Big savings are often found in electronic items. Many replacement items are then put to landfill whilst still worthy of use, or sent to low quality recycling programs.
- Sales and 'offers' encourage shoppers to buy things they don't actually need. This not only contributes to a high level of waste, but also encourages overproduction.
- Various reports state that many purchases are used only once, if at all, before being pushed to the back of the cupboard or thrown away.
- A higher level of packaging for deliveries being used. Many using plastic.
- There is a big impact on carbon emissions as more deliveries are required. Where a lot of delivery services are still struggling from the strains of Covid-19, the addition of sales just add to the pressure.
- A report from EthicalConsumer.org estimated that deliveries from Black Friday online sales in 2021 released 390,000 tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, equivalent to carbon produced by 215 flights between London and Sydney! [1.]
So before you make that purchase, please do consider what companies you are supporting and question yourself as to whether you genuinely need the product. Don't get caught up with the hype!
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References:
1. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/retailers/boycott-black-friday-cyber-monday-2021