Shop Slow; Our Black Friday Alternative
Join us in our campaign to change the way we shop around Black Friday. As a sustainable brand we want to promote alternatives to mass consumerism that has the environment and all animals in mind. Don’t rush to buy, Shop Eco, Shop Used, Shop Slow. If you want to buy anything off our site, we’re offering up to 20% off for a whole week, no need to rush!
Read on to learn more about our decision.
These days you can’t escape the Black Friday deals, with ads and promotions starting weeks before the day even takes place. This season of sales comes after a particularly difficult year for many small businesses, but we still believe that things need to be approached differently.
Black Friday deals often seek to evoke fear in the consumer, to encourage rushed decisions made because they’re concerned with the fear of missing out. This promotion of over consumption is furthering the damage done to our planet, with the combination of cheaply made products and rushed decisions so many of what is purchased not only has a high environmental impact but will also likely have a short life span.
A research study from Green Alliance had found that “up to 80 per cent of these items – and any plastic packaging they are wrapped in – will end up either in landfill, incineration or, at best, low quality recycling”.
We need to be working towards a circular economy, one that favours long lasting products, repairing, recycling and moving away from promoting unnecessary purchasing.
It’s on brands to make these changes, so this week why not send some emails to companies to demand they start sharing where their clothes are made, what are they made from and how are they going to combat the massive damage caused to the environment.
Lets make it different; here’s some ideas for an alternative approach to supporting Black Friday;
- Commit to not buying anything! Turn off email from brands, and why not pledge a donation to a sanctuary instead. Check out our recent Instagram post with a list of vegan sanctuaries to support!
- Rework something you already own. Why not spend some time looking up how to make that shirt into a cute crop, or finally sew on that patch onto your old favourite jacket, the most eco clothing is the ones already in your wardrobe. Or you can even send in a tee or hoody to us and we’ll print on it for you, check out our RePrint scheme.
- Shop Used; If you do need something, why not look to places like Ebay, Depop and others to get that gift or piece of clothing. We also sell second-hand HeartCure so you can trade/buy used items direct from our site.
- Shop Ethical/Eco/Indie; If you are going to buy new then be sure to support small businesses and those selling ethical and eco items - of course we offer that too 😉
Finally, we need to acknowledge that sustainable fashion can be expensive and that sales can help make these items more accessible. That is why we will be offering up to 20% off, however this sale will last until 1st December so no need to rush your decision!
So in the words of Angela Y. Davis “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change, I am changing the things I cannot accept” Lets work together to make changing the fashion industry part of our path to a better future and make fast fashion a thing of the past!
1.https://www.green-alliance.org.uk/building_a_circular_economy_press_release.php
2. Images from Unsplash - All rights belong to photographers
