Editor:
Love those Black Friday deals? Think again.
The Earth has a different opinion. Every Black Friday, Canadians spend millions of dollars on the latest electronics, on trendy clothing, pricey cosmetics and more. A lot of it is heavily packaged and has a limited lifespan and ends up in the landfill by the next Black Friday.
In Canada, landfills grow by about 25 billion kilograms of waste annually. Landfills are significant emitters of greenhouse gases, the prime contributors to climate change. As a counterpoint to Black Friday's consumption of stuff, which itself is the product of extraction of the Earth's limited resources.
Think about circular consumption, marked by circular Monday, which is the Monday before Black Friday. Circular consumption includes repairing, recycling, reusing, upcycling, borrowing and lending, sharing, trading, buying second hand, repurposing – anything other than buying newly produced stuff.
Sure, you'll need to buy some new items from time to time, and why not save a bundle on Black Friday? But every other day of the year, choose to limit your effect on climate change by practising circular consumption.
Suzanne Perkins,
Canmore
