Why Black Friday is bad for the planet and how consumers can encourage brands to be greener

From the energy it takes to use the internet to the e-waste created by dumped electronics, Black Friday is an environmental nightmare. Jennifer Stevens looks at the scale of the problem and how we can work to fix it.

is Black Friday bad for the planet?

Black Friday is three days away. It’s usually the time of year when we laugh at ridiculous videos from the US of people mauling their way to the top of queues to beat down doors to buy heavily discounted mattresses and TVs, but this year feels different.

Coming hot on the heels of COP26 in Glasgow, Mary Robinson’s emotional interview on Sky Television, and images of discarded clothes from the Atacama Desert in Chile, aggressive marketing and built-in obsolescence seems like an attack on the climate crisis.