Statistics show that nearly 40% of people do not need the things they buy, 23% never use them and 10% saying that they have not opened items bought last year on Black Friday!
Warwickshire County Council is encouraging residents to try something different this Black Friday (28 November).
As the statistics from Starling Bank above show, Black Friday, known as the biggest shopping day of the year, can sometimes mean consumers are pressured into wasteful spending habits. As a result, there is now even an international initiative called Buy Nothing Day, which encourages people to stop spending money over the 24 hours of Black Friday. Supported by big brands like Caffe Nero, McDonalds, Barclays and Amazon, it aims to raise awareness about the impacts of over consumption and to help families manage the cost of living.
As a result, Warwickshire County Council is encouraging residents to instead try shopping in their local towns, where local retailers can help with purchasing advice and support, or to help save even more money whilst reducing overall consumption, to consider alternatives like repairing, reusing or borrowing.
Thanks to community volunteers, Warwickshire has at least ten Repair Cafes which meet on a regular basis and can often be found on Facebook or via the Sustainable Warwickshire webpage. Repair Cafés are free meeting places and they’re all about repairing things from clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances and toys. At these free meeting places, residents will find tools to make the repairs themself or there will be an expert on hand to help or make the repair.
An alternative option to is buy something second hand. There are eight reuse shops at Warwickshire’s recycling centres run by Age UK Coventry & Warwickshire and Mary Ann Evans in Nuneaton. The shops provide a range of goods donated via the recycling centre from coffee tables to Christmas decorations, cooking ware to craft items and DIY tools, all available at low prices. Find out more about reuse centres: Waste and Recycling in Warwickshire: Re-Use.
If you need something just once or twice, then there’s also the option to borrow it. A Library of Things is a service, usually managed by volunteers, which loans out items to members of its local community for a small fee, promoting a sharing economy. These items generally include DIY tools, garden machinery, kitchen appliances and other useful household items.
The benefits of borrowing items from a Library of Things rather than owning them are multiple:
- Saves on storage
- It's much cheaper than buying the item new
- Each item gets a full life of use
- It reduces manufacturing and material usage
- It reduces waste and carbon emissions.
Warwickshire has a well-established Library of Things based within the Rugby Eco-Hub, with another one planned to open shortly in Leamington Spa. For more information, and to browse the items available, visit either the Rugby Eco-Hub website or Leamington Spa Eco Hub - Home.
Cllr Darren Cheshire, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Environment, Heritage and Culture, said: “The figures around how people spend money on Black Friday is a great prompt for all of us to pause and think about what we buy, why we buy it, and whether we really need it.
“Warwickshire is fortunate to have fantastic high streets full of local retailers as well as brilliant community-led initiatives like Repair Cafés, reuse shops and Libraries of Things, all of which make it easier to save money, discover something new, or simply make the most of what we already have. I’d encourage everyone to take a moment on 28 November to explore these options and see how small changes in our habits can make a big difference to our pockets and our communities.”
Residents can Follow Warwickshire Recycles on social media for daily tips:
- On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/warwickshire_recycles/
- On Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/warwickshirerecycles
Residents can find out where their recycling goes and the types of products it goes on to be remade into by visiting www.warwickshire.gov.uk/whereitgoes
For more information about how Warwickshire is embracing sustainability, visit: https://www.sustainablewarwickshire.co.uk/
*Source (2023): https://www.starlingbank.com/news/three-in-ten-shoppers-regret-black-friday-purchases/