Boycott Black Friday to Reduce Inflation

Supply and demand require two things, a seller of a resource and a buyer for that resource. If supply chains are causing issues for supplies, the quickest way to reduce that issue is to reduce demand.

With Black Friday and Digital Monday quickly approaching, supply chain issues are back-logging items and inflation is causing a spike in pricing. The quickest way to reduce the issues is to not purchase anything, especially this Black Friday.

We have been taught that items are on sale on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. According to Which?, the prices of those items remain the same for six months before Black Friday and six months after Black Friday. In other words, all year round!

In an effort to reduce consumerism and increase sustainability, the Buy Nothing Project started in 2013. “Buy less and share more makes us all richer and the planet cleaner.”

Buy Nothing Day was started in Vancouver, Canada by artist Ted Dave in September of 1992. It is celebrated on the Friday after American Thanksgiving, infamously known as ‘Black Friday’.

We have all witnessed the excessive profits made from billionaires throughout the pandemic during lockdowns. We have heard about the $500 billion lost to tax avoidance by these same billionaires and their companies.

So What Can We Do?

Buy nothing on Black Friday. Reduce consumerism to help the planet by reducing carbon emissions, fast fashion, and packaging. According to this 2019 Green Alliance report, 80% of electronics, clothing, and packaging end up in landfills after a very short, if not one-time use.

Create Memories Over Gift-Giving

I have drawers full of gifts that I’ve never looked at twice. I feel too guilty about throwing them away, so they sit in a forgotten drawer. Instead of giving someone a gift they don’t want, find a way to give them an experience. Go out for dinner at a restaurant, which also supports a local tax-paying business. Invite friends and family over for a home-cooked meal. Spending time with our loved ones is much more memorable and better use of our money than a plastic gift that is made in China, then is shipped overseas and leads to a rise in inflation.

If you are going to buy something, choose a small, ethical business that pays taxes back into your community.

Or check out this site Make Smthng to celebrate creativity and use a positive message to challenge consumerism and its impact on the climate.

If you do purchase something online, try supporting an ethical online retailer that pays their fair share of tax, as put together by our friends at Ethical Consumer.

Or just boycott Black Friday altogether:

Hey @amazon

We're boycotting you this Black Friday to highlight your unethical and exploitative business practices, in solidarity with activists and workers across the globe #BoycottAmazon #BoycottBlackFriday #MakeAmazonPay

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