Why Boycott Black Friday?

Black Friday is the shopping-spree holiday that happens on the day after Thanksgiving. Shoppers would go to malls and outlet stores to line up before the doors open around 5am. Most shoppers want things like new televisions, cell phones, video games, GPS gadgets, clothes, and etc. The sale discounts sound so good for themselves and for Christmas gifts that they would fight and trample over each other to grab what they want before the stores run out of stocks of those things.

There are groups of people who boycott Black Friday. These green activists have proclaimed the new holiday Buy Nothing Day. And they buy nothing, all day. The idea was started by a group of people of Adbusters back in 1996. There are different reasons on why people boycott Black Friday. Some people think the idea of consumerism is just plainly ridiculous. Some are concerned with the human rights abuses of overseas sweatshops. Others are concerned about how our money-spending affects our environment and climate change. For instance, most televisions and clothes are made in other countries like China or India. It takes a large carbon footprint and a lot of pollution to get those manufactured things shipped across the oceans to sell them in retail stores in America, which is why most environmentalists want to see those things made locally, not overseas. Having appliances, clothes, and other things made locally would bring more jobs for Americans and it would tremendously reduce the negative impacts on our environment.

What does this (Buy Nothing Day) have to do with climate change? Anne Polansky is glad you asked. Read her thought-provoking post here at Happy Buy Nothing Day .

On Black Friday November 27th 2008, an employee was trampled to death by shoppers at Wal-Mart. Read more here: New York Times

Help slow down climate change by not shopping on Black Friday.
Every year on the day after Thanksgiving.

Shop less and live more!

(and save lives, too)

(picture source: here )