People in North East and Teesside urged to 'Buy Nothing New' this month
Keep Britain Tidy has launched a new campaign
An environmental charity is calling on Brits to cut our carbon footprint by buying nothing new in November, even if we are tempted by Black Friday deals.
Keep Britain Tidy has launched Buy Nothing New month, with 473,393 people (22%) in the North East saying they would be willing to ‘boycott’ Black Friday
667,000 adults (31%) in the North East agree they 'hate’ Black Friday.
Keep Britain Tidy says Black Friday – an American import that happens on the Friday after Thanksgiving and sees Brits spend about £3 billion – encourages us to increase our consumption with the promise of hefty discounts at a time when we need to be reducing the amount of ‘stuff’ we buy for the sake of the environment.
Along with Cyber Monday and start of the Christmas shopping frenzy, Black Friday has helped make November the month of rampant consumerism. A YouGov poll on behalf of the charity reveals that while 54% of adults have made a Black Friday purchase, 70% agree the event promotes excessive consumption of goods and 42% agree it is bad for the environment.
The poll also revealed that there is a growing awareness of the impact of buying new items on the planet, with half of UK adults agreeing that Black Friday contributes to landfill waste and 41% believing it creates excess carbon emissions.
The global adoption of Black Friday means its carbon footprint has rocketed in recent years. In the UK alone in 2020, the CO2 emissions related to the home delivery of Black Friday purchases was an estimated 429,000 metrics tons.
Buy Nothing New Month campaign
To encourage people to make better choices for the environment in the face of the Black Friday marketing onslaught, Keep Britain Tidy is launching its award-winning Buy Nothing New Month campaign, which will take place from this Friday, November 1 to November 30 to encourage people to save their pennies and the planet.
The charity’s research reveals 58% of UK adults who have made a Black Friday purchase - more than 16 million - borrowed money on a credit card, while 14% used flexible payment options and 6% turned to store credit.
Sixteen per cent said, after purchasing a Black Friday item, they realised it wasn't as good of a deal as they thought it was and 8% admitted they did not really need the item anyway.
The charity believes there is a growing public appetite to rethink the way we shop and consider the environmental cost - in fact 63% of UK adults think campaigns like Buy Nothing New Month are a good idea, encouraging alternatives to buying new, such as reusing, repairing or buying preloved or abstaining from buying ‘stuff’ in the first place.
Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “The waste our nation generates is a huge issue all year round, but is exacerbated at this time of year, as seemingly large discounts persuade people to buy items they don't need and can’t always afford.
“The public are awakening to the idea that this level of consumerism is environmentally and economically unsustainable. Today's figures show that people are ready take up the challenge to ‘buy nothing new’ for a month – and that could make all the difference to our planet.”