Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year due to the major deals offered by retailers. However, as conscious consumerism rises, shoppers may feel guilty when shopping to excess due to the environmental impact.

What is Traditional Black Friday?

Traditionally an American phenomenon, Black Friday occurs the day after Thanksgiving – the last payday before Christmas – calling for the ultimate climax in the festive shopping season. The history of Black Friday dates back to a major stock market crash in the 19th century, and also refers to businesses being “in the black” so they are profitable enough to cover their costs while reducing prices.

It is also followed by a second global shopping event called Cyber Monday on Monday 2nd December, which is intended to be a purely online affair. Now, we see major sales throughout the whole weekend and even the whole month of November, causing websites to crash and even mob-crazed mania at brick-and-mortar stores as people stop at nothing to get their hands on a bargain (no really, some people literally fight each other).

The environmental impact of Black Friday

According to The Guardian, UK shoppers spend up to £1.35 billion on Black Friday, which causes a huge spike in air pollution and plastic waste.

As you can imagine, the soaring level of consumption on Black Friday and Cyber Monday inevitably leads to a huge amount of waste. From clothing to gadgets, shoppers across the world rush to purchase millions of discounted products that they may not really want. Once the ‘Black Friday buzz’ has worn off, these (mostly non-recyclable) items are more often than not discarded. 

Why Pirate Black Friday?

For Black Friday at RainbowLife we have turned tables and reversed this trend towards mass consumerism. We call it Pirate Black Friday as we go against the norm and instead we celebrate the work of our creative artisans across the world, near and far who make beautiful things to be treasured. Look into our Treasure chest of Handcrafted goods and find the story within.....

Handmade products often have a story behind them, a purpose and inspiration for their existence. Artisans typically strive to produce a piece of work that they are proud of. To buy a handmade product is to affirm the value of creativity.

Purchasing handcrafted products helps keep alive traditional skills that might otherwise be lost. 

If you take steps to reduce the impact on the planet through your consuming habits, you are an ethical consumer.

This Black Friday why not buy ethical and sustainable?  Purposeful purchasing gives you the power to empower artisans and to protect the planet.

When you purchase from us here at RainbowLife, you enable artisans to build  sustainable futures.

Check out our Pirate Black Friday Handcrafted Collection here.