I hate Black Friday
In fact, I loath it
Call me hypocritical, given I work in distribution, but I can see the damage it does to retail, given for many the following weeks are crucial to their year and more over, its affect on our attitudes to throw away culture, more stuff and ‘be stupid not to at that price’ are evident.
Some brands, mainly in the outdoor industry, in recent years have not taken part but indeed given all takings to charity/worthwhile projects. Others have shut their websites and given employees the day off. This year a few brands contacted me with their plans to promote Green Friday, with donations, but surely this should be a pledge they honour year round. Let’s not have gestures which to the cynical could be seen as token and instead build these into business models and promote with every sale. Have people want to purchase your products due to transparency of manufacturing practices, fabric/component sourcing and having ways the consumer can repair the product or send it back from repair.
Bring back repair how to guides and videos!
Yes, we are starting to see circular models from brands launching in the early months of 2021, however, this focuses on a single product in many cases. I’m not critical of this, the manufacturing/recycling/repair stages of the supply chain need to adapt and broaden before this can be done at scale. We also know current recycling infrastructure for every day waste is woeful at best.
Think of it like the latest bit of tech, at first they are hard to get hold of, some fail and replacements take time. Give it a year, and suddenly they are much easier to get hold of, as the production becomes more efficient, supply and demand balances, more over, this trickles down to other brands and ultimately to the factories.
We must not forget that the majority of brands share the same factories as their competitors. Its in everyones interests for each brand to push each other to do better.
We just need to be patient.
I don’t have adds or sponsored posts on the website so I can say what I want. I pay for the annual domain and sub fee myself and yes, brands may opt out of sending me more products if they don’t like what I say, but for me, I feel it means I can be more transparent with you.
Rant over – what I really want to talk about is
Up till today, if you wanted to make a small donation ie stick a sappling in the earth, you needed to enter a race. A tough one with 2020, but also given you may need to spend a lot to get one placed, not the most consumer friendly. I contacted the team a few months ago to see if I could and they are open and said not just yet.
But, today on Green Friday, they have launched the ability to plant a single tree for a fiver, £5. That pint from your local boozer you haven’t been able to get for the last month….. exchange one for some greenery.
Whats more, this isn’t for one day, but moving forward indefinitely.
I like this model.
I don’t have to subscribe, I can donate some cash when suits me, without worrying about tying myself into a year and you can also then give these as presents/gifts
So for the price of an overpriced coffee in London, a draught ale or a fell race, you can give back to the planet, to our ecosystem, without needing to receive anything in return
You don’t need to take to give
For more information on Trees Not Tees CLICK HERE
This is not a paid advert or sponsored post – I saw this and wanted to share
James Mackeddie 