The Friday after Thanksgiving is referred as "Black Friday". According to a recent poll from Consumer Reports, an estimated 63 million Americans will hit the stores to engage in the formal start of the holiday shopping season. Consider the following: think about ways you can reduce your impact on Global Warming, stand up against unfair labor practices, reduce unneeded impacts to your local landfill, and still have a good time!
Here's six suggestions to start you up:
1) Buy nothing. The biggest impact that can be made on Black Friday is to ignore it. Spend the day with your family, friends, pets, volunteering, or having a good time with yourself (reading a good book).
2) If you are going to shop: walk, bike, or bus to where you want to shop--bring friends or family and your own shopping bags. You may not be able to take advantage of all the "bargains", but you'll likely save a bunch of money, have fun, and feel good about yourself.
3) Consider purchasing resale items, regifting, or making your own gifts.
4) Buy merchandise from the Internet sparingly (think of the amount of transportation of one item)--although downloading music, books, or software can actually leave a much smaller footprint.
5) Shop locally with hometown merchants or stores that pay fair wages.
6) Pay attention to not only what you buy, but how it is packaged. The best gift is one that can a) be totally consumed (i.e., 0% waste). b) can be totally recycled (100% recyclable).
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